Geovisualization of artificial land use in European cities in 2006, with urban scaling laws
Géovisualisation des usages des sols artificiels dans les villes européennes en 2006, avec les lois d'échelles urbaines
Abstract
Most European cities, even those with declining populations, tend to expand with increasing urbanization. This phenomenon raises essential environmental and sustainability issues. The approach of this work concerns both intra- and inter-urban scales, with a center-periphery analysis. The web application visualizes the evolution of urban structure (artificial land use) as a function of distance from the center. We use urban scaling laws, which are an effective way of abstracting from the size effect when studying the spatial organization of cities. In fact, after rescaling distances from the town hall, European cities are positioned at similar levels in terms of land use in 2006. With this interactive tool, cities can not only assess their situation in 2006, but also compare themselves with other similar cities in terms of land use profiles. Another advantage is the detailed visualization of land use for urban fabric, industry and roads. However, there are a few specific features that stand out from the general law. In particular, two countries stand out from the European average: French towns are more artificial, while Spanish towns are less so, especially in the first 10-30 kilometers (after rescaling).
Origin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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