IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa03p116.html

Using fractal dimensions for characterizing intra-urban diversity. The example of Brussels

Author

Listed:
  • Isabelle Thomas

  • Marie-Laurence De Keersmaecker

  • Pierre Frankhauser

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to compare fractal-based parameters calculated by different fractal methods for urban built-up areas, and to link the observed spatial variations to variables commonly used in urban geography, urban economics or land use planning. Computations are performed on Brussels. Two fractal methods (correlation and dilation) are systematically applied for evaluating the fractal dimension of built-up surfaces; correlation is used to evaluate the fractal dimension of the borders (lines). Analyses show that while fractal dimension is ideal for distinguishing the morphology of Brussels, each estimation technique leads to slightly different results. Interesting associations are to be found between the fractal dimensions and rent, distance, income and planning rules. Despite its limitations, fractal analysis seems to be a promising tool for describing the morphology of the city and for simulating its genesis and planning. The model is robust: it replicates the urban spatial regularities and patterns, and could hence fruitfully be integrated into intra urban simulation processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabelle Thomas & Marie-Laurence De Keersmaecker & Pierre Frankhauser, 2003. "Using fractal dimensions for characterizing intra-urban diversity. The example of Brussels," ERSA conference papers ersa03p116, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa03p116
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa03/cdrom/papers/116.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
    2. repec:cai:popine:popu_p1998_10n1_0240 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Florence Goffette-Nagot & Isabelle Thomas & Yves Zenou, 2000. "Structure urbaine et revenu des ménages," Post-Print halshs-00144744, HAL.
    4. Claire Dujardin & Isabelle Thomas & Henry Tulkens, 2007. "Quelles frontières pour Bruxelles ? Une mise à jour," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 155-176.
    5. Gomes, M.A.F, 2001. "Geometrical aspects in the distribution of languages and urban settlements," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 295(1), pages 9-16.
    6. Thomas Le Jeannic, 1996. "Une nouvelle approche territoriale de la ville," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 294(1), pages 25-45.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pascale Bessy-Pietri, 2000. "Les formes récentes de la croissance urbaine," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 336(1), pages 35-52.
    2. Jean Cavailhés & Isabelle Thomas, 2011. "The influence of urban sprawl on farmland prices in Belgium (refereed paper)," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1628, European Regional Science Association.
    3. Cécile Détang-Dessendre & Florence Goffette-Nagot & Virginie Piguet, 2004. "Life-cycle position and migration to urban and rural areas: estimations of a mixed logit model on French data," Working Papers 0403, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Etienne (GATE Lyon St-Etienne), Université de Lyon.
    4. Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Steenberghen, Thérèse & Thomas, Isabelle, 2009. "Mapping accessibility in Belgium: a tool for land-use and transport planning?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 39-53.
    5. Bergeaud, Antonin & Raimbault, Juste, 2020. "An empirical analysis of the spatial variability of fuel prices in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 131-143.
    6. Spielman, Seth E. & Yoo, Eun-hye, 2009. "The spatial dimensions of neighborhood effects," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1098-1105, March.
    7. Li, Jiewei & Lu, Ming & Lu, Tianyi, 2022. "Constructing compact cities: How urban regeneration can enhance growth and relieve congestion," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Carl Gaigné & Jacques-François Thisse, 2013. "New Economic Geography and the City," Working Papers SMART 13-02, INRAE UMR SMART.
    9. Marco Helbich & Wolfgang Brunauer & Eric Vaz & Peter Nijkamp, 2014. "Spatial Heterogeneity in Hedonic House Price Models: The Case of Austria," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(2), pages 390-411, February.
    10. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Wendlan, Nicolai, 2008. "Spatial Determinants of CBD Emergence: A Micro-level Case Study on Berlin∗," MPRA Paper 11572, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Dujardin, Claire & Thomas, Isabelle & Geus, Bas de & Degraeuwe, Bart & Meeusen, Romain & Panis, Luc Int, 2011. "Cycle commuting in Belgium: Spatial determinants and 're-cycling' strategies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 118-137, February.
    12. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Guci, Ledia, 2018. "An estimator for discrete-choice models with spatial lag dependence using large samples, with an application to land-use conversions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 77-93.
    13. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    14. McMillen, Daniel P. & Smith, Stefani C., 2003. "The number of subcenters in large urban areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 321-338, May.
    15. Hans R.A. Koster & Jan Rouwendal, 2012. "The Impact Of Mixed Land Use On Residential Property Values," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 733-761, December.
    16. Pierre Dessemontet & Vincent Kaufmann & Christophe Jemelin, 2010. "Switzerland as a Single Metropolitan Area? A Study of its Commuting Network," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(13), pages 2785-2802, November.
    17. Ilenia Epifani & Rosella Nicolini, 2013. "On The Population Density Distribution Across Space: A Probabilistic Approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 481-510, August.
    18. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2012. "Urban Growth and Transportation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(4), pages 1407-1440.
    19. Vicente Romero de à vila Serrano, 2019. "The Intrametropolitan Geography of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS): A Comparative Analysis of Six European and U.S. City-Regions," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 33(4), pages 279-295, November.
    20. Wouter Vermeulen, 2011. "Agglomeration Externalities and Urban Growth Controls," CPB Discussion Paper 191.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa03p116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gunther Maier (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ersa.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.