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A topological pattern of urban street networks: Universality and peculiarity

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  • Jiang, Bin

Abstract

In this paper, we derive a topological pattern of urban street networks using a large sample (the largest so far to the best of our knowledge) of 40 US cities and a few more from elsewhere of different sizes. It is found that all the topologies of urban street networks based on street–street intersection demonstrate a small world structure, and a scale-free property for both street length and connectivity degree. More specifically, for any street network, about 80% of its streets have length or degrees less than its average value, while 20% of streets have length or degrees greater than the average. Out of the 20%, there are less than 1% of streets which can form a backbone of the street network. Based on the finding, we conjecture that the 20% streets account for 80% of traffic flow, and the 1% streets constitute a cognitive map of the urban street network. We illustrate further a peculiarity about the scale-free property.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiang, Bin, 2007. "A topological pattern of urban street networks: Universality and peculiarity," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 384(2), pages 647-655.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:384:y:2007:i:2:p:647-655
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2007.05.064
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jacobs, Allan B., 1993. "Great Streets," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt3t62h1fv, University of California Transportation Center.
    2. Porta, Sergio & Crucitti, Paolo & Latora, Vito, 2006. "The network analysis of urban streets: A dual approach," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 369(2), pages 853-866.
    3. J. Buhl & J. Gautrais & N. Reeves & R. V. Solé & S. Valverde & P. Kuntz & G. Theraulaz, 2006. "Topological patterns in street networks of self-organized urban settlements," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 49(4), pages 513-522, February.
    4. Carvalho, Rui & Penn, Alan, 2004. "Scaling and universality in the micro-structure of urban space," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 332(C), pages 539-547.
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