A Wave-Spectrum Analysis of Urban Population Density: Entropy, Fractal, and Spatial Localization

The method of spectral analysis is employed to research the spatial dynamics of urban population distribution. First of all, the negative exponential model is derived in a new way by using an entropy-maximizing idea. Then an approximate scaling relation between wave number and spectral density is de...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Yanguang Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2008-01-01
Series:Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2008/728420
Description
Summary:The method of spectral analysis is employed to research the spatial dynamics of urban population distribution. First of all, the negative exponential model is derived in a new way by using an entropy-maximizing idea. Then an approximate scaling relation between wave number and spectral density is derived by Fourier transform of the negative exponential model. The theoretical results suggest the locality of urban population activities. So the principle of entropy maximization can be utilized to interpret the locality and localization of urban morphology. The wave-spectrum model is applied to the city in the real world, Hangzhou, China, and spectral exponents can give the dimension values of the fractal lines of urban population profiles. The changing trend of the fractal dimension does reflect the localization of urban population growth and diffusion. This research on spatial dynamics of urban evolvement is significant for modeling spatial complexity and simulating spatial complication of city systems by cellular automata.
ISSN:1026-0226
1607-887X