Clustering cities through urban metrics analysis

Abstract

This paper describes a process for measuring and characterizing urban morphological zones. These urban zones are delineated for the entire area of Spain, independently of administrative boundaries and excluding demographic data, using a high resolution land-use dataset. Given the rich information available on land cover and subsequently assigned population data, it is possible to calculate a set of urban spatial metrics to classify these urban zones into homogenous morphological groups. Four types of urban agglomerations are identified in Spain by working with these urban metrics and applying a final cluster analysis. Although these groups have a general complex monocentric typology, each has its own specific characteristics. Finally, a picture of patterns and trends of urbanization for the main urban agglomerations in Spain is provided, offering some perspectives on the urban sprawl phenomenon.

Acknowledgements

Comments from anonymous referees have considerably improved the original version of the paper. The authors are also particularly grateful to Ignacio Duque, Jose Luis Maldonado and Josefa Barragán from the National Statistical Institute; Ma Elena Caballero and Julián Delgado from SIOSE; and Roger Milego from ETC-SIA. The first author acknowledges financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology, ECO2015-70632-R project, and the BBVA Foundation-Ivie research programme.