Centrality measures and intermediate scale: the potential structuring role of the road network in Valles Oriental

Abstract

Objective

The contemporary networks of cities continue to expand their force fields by embracing ever larger territories while shaping their interstices in heterogeneous mosaics of infrastructures, settlements and open spaces. The equilibrium of the urban system depends largely on the management of these unavoidable settings, in which the urban form is less sustainable and lacks structure. Although there is extensive literature on this environment, there are fewer instruments based on quantitative methods of analysis. The objective of the article is to evaluate the contribution of the so-called centrality measures in isolation, by merely observing the outcomes.

Methodology

The centrality measures reach, closeness, betweennes and straigthness are calculated considering radiuses of influence ranging from 300 to 10.000 meters. The midpoints of each segment of the road network represent a possible origin and destination.

Conclusions

The combined reading of closeness and betweennes allows for the identification of the relative importance of nodes and a set of network skeletons that are linked to each mode of transport – from non-motorised to motorised means of transport. 

Originality

The metric distance is the adopted impedance to calculate the shortest paths between all origins and destinations, as well as for the selected radiuses of influence that intentionally represent the different modes of transport considered in a modal share.