Spatial Point Pattern Analysis of Human Settlements and Geographical Associations in Eastern Coastal China — A Case Study

Abstract

Understanding the spatial point pattern of human settlements and their geographical associations are important for understanding the drivers of land use and land cover change and the relationship between environmental and ecological processes on one hand and cultures and lifestyles on the other. In this study, a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach, Ripley’s K function and Monte Carlo simulation were used to investigate human settlement point patterns. Remotely sensed tools and regression models were employed to identify the effects of geographical determinants on settlement locations in the Wen-Tai region of eastern coastal China. Results indicated that human settlements displayed regular-random-cluster patterns from small to big scale. Most settlements located on the coastal plain presented either regular or random patterns, while those in hilly areas exhibited a clustered pattern. Moreover, clustered settlements were preferentially located at higher elevations with steeper slopes and south facing aspects than random or regular settlements. Regression showed that influences of topographic factors (elevation, slope and aspect) on settlement locations were stronger across hilly regions. This study demonstrated a new approach to analyzing the spatial patterns of human settlements from a wide geographical prospective. We argue that the spatial point patterns of settlements, in addition to the characteristics of human settlements, such as area, density and shape, should be taken into consideration in the future, and land planners and decision makers should pay more attention to city planning and management. Conceptual and methodological bridges linking settlement patterns to regional and site-specific geographical characteristics will be a key to human settlement studies and planning.

Hubungan Karakteristik Permukiman Dengan Bentuk Adaptasi Masyarakat Terhadap Rob Di Pesisir Kota Semarang

“…Pertumbuhan penduduk yang cepat dan perpindahan penduduk dari desa ke kota mengakibatkan beberapa wilayah menjadi tujuan penduduk untuk bermukim tanpa memempertimbangkan kemampuan kawasannya (Jaitman and Brakarz 2013). Permukiman merupakan lokasi khusus untuk tempat tinggal dan melakukan aktivitas ekonomi, politik, dan kegiatan budaya, permukiman merupakan pendorong utama penggunaan lahan dan dasar tutupan lahan (Zhang et al 2014). Permukiman erat kaitannya dengan kondisi fisik alam, bangunan dan sosial ekonomi masyarakat sekitar (Turner and Fichter 1972).…”

Spatial point pattern analysis of the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) poaching cases in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra

“…The behavior of a general spatial stochastic process can be characterized in terms of its first-order and second-order properties (Gatrell et al 1996;Wiegand and Moloney 2004;Perry et al 2006). First-order properties are described in term of intensity of a point pattern, in which intensity is defined as the mean value of the distribution at locations throughout the region of interest (Gatrell et al 1996;Zhang et al 2014). On the other hand, second-order properties of a spatial point process define the small-scale spatial correlation structure of the point pattern and they are based on the distribution of distances of all pairs of points (Gatrell et al 1996;Wiegand and Moloney 2004;Perry et al 2006;Zhang et al 2014).…”

“…This test considers all inter-point distances and produces more information on the scale of the pattern (Wiegand and Moloney 2004). The K function represents the expected number of points within radius r from a randomly chosen point (Dixon 2002b;Zhang et al 2014), and is defined as: Where, λ is the density (number per unit area) of points, and E is the expected other points within distance r of a randomly chosen event. The expected other points within distance r from a randomly chosen point in a process with no spatial dependency is also expressed as λπr 2 , K(r) for a homogeneous Poisson process can be defined as: [6] In addition, the empirical function is a ratio of numeration and the density of events, λ.…”

“…These effects appear when the numerator does not consider points outside the boundary. One of commonly used estimator that count in the edge correction (Haase 1995;Dixon 2002b;Zhang et al 2014) is: [7] This study examined the applicability of these two spatial statistic tests for tiger poaching incidents. QGIS and R spatstat (Baddeley and Turner 2005; R Development Core Team 2012), were used to perform these analyses.…”

“…Even though almost all animals are nonsedentary, but this analysis has been used to study the occurrences, lethal incidences and stationary constructions such as ant hills or birds' nests (Ramp et al 2005;Hengl et al 2009;Cogălniceanu et al 2013;Iosif et al 2013). Other disciplines that harness benefits from this method include soil science (Huo et al 2012), volcanology (Bishop 2007) and urban studies (Zhang et al 2014).…”