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Urban growth: Modelling street network growth in Manhattan (1642–2008) and Barcelona (1260–2008)

Al Sayed, Kinda; Hanna, Sean; Penn, Alan; (2022) Urban growth: Modelling street network growth in Manhattan (1642–2008) and Barcelona (1260–2008). Frontiers in Built Environment , 8 , Article 949441. 10.3389/fbuil.2022.949441. Green open access

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Abstract

In this paper, we argue for the case that cities are self-organised complex systems by presenting evidence on positive and reinforcing feedback mechanisms and robust global trends that characterise historical growth patterns. In two case studies; Manhattan and Barcelona, historical stages of urban growth were mapped and analysed. The analyses revealed regularities that may help define the local and global processes that characterise urban growth marked by alternating periods of expansion and pruning in street networks. The global trend marked by a lognormal distribution of segmental integration (closeness) in street networks was consistently restored following planning interventions. The overall street network growth trend appeared to fit an exponential or power law distribution, along with a linear change in fractal dimension. Underlying these global trends, we found evidence for local positive and reinforcing feedback mechanisms; explained by preferential attachment to well-connected street structures, and pruning of weakly integrated local street structures. The findings are likely to improve our understanding of urban growth.

Type: Article
Title: Urban growth: Modelling street network growth in Manhattan (1642–2008) and Barcelona (1260–2008)
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3389/fbuil.2022.949441
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2022.949441
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10155096
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