Point pattern analysis: an application to the loyalty networks of chain-stores

At the 41th congress of ERSA., Staufer-Steinnocher (2001) proved that kernel density estimation, a technique of spatial analysis belonging to the point pattern methods, can be usefully applied to geomarketing. Following this point of view, the aim of this paper is to show that other point pattern techniques (center-grahic statistics, global and local autocorrelation indexes, clustering methods, 'nearest neighbour index', 'Ripley's K statistic', etc.) are able to suggest important considerations in marketing researches, making explicit the "geographical knowledge" embedded in available informations. Namely this argument is demonstrated, analysing spatial distributions of big stores chained in a promotional network, finalised to improve fidelity in the consumers.

Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Camping: A spatial analysis

As our society becomes increasingly leisure-oriented with the growth of disposable personal income and shorter work periods, the need for recreation facilities continues to rise. Government agencies have attempted to meet this demand by the expansion of public facilities within the total outdoor rcreation resource complex. Similarly, commerical entrepreneurs have recognized the profit potential fo specific recreation elements with a resulting increase in facilities such as commerical campgrounds. Because of the difficulties in obtaining data, economic demand and supply studies have been limited mostly to the public sector. An early study stated that variables affecting public and commerical recreation facilities were not interchangeable in meeting the recreation demand, however, it has recently been proven that the variables controlling attendance are applicable to both facilitiy types

Commuting as a Spatial Feature of International Concern's Location in a Major City. Example of Poznań

The study presents the spatial aspects of the location of a branch of an international concern in a major city, viz. in Poznań, in terms of commuting streams, both from the city area, and the surrounding area, as well as their variation in the period 2000-2009. In order to characterise the spatial arrangement of commuting, the study used centrographic measures to analyse the variation of commuting directions and identify the areas of the greatest concentration. Furthermore, it was observed that there was a regular disproportion between the group of employees commuting from the city area, and the group of employees commuting from the region, the latter of which was smaller. It thus seems that an international concern production plant influences the local labour market to a significant extent, displaying the strongest regional impact within the range of 20 km from its location, with the direction of this influence being clearly related to the plant's location in relation to city borders, which might be linked to better communicational accessibility

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Crime Incidents for Forensic Investigation

Crime analysis and mapping has been routinely employed to gather intelligence which informs security efforts and forensic investigations. Traditionally, geographic information systems in the form of third-party mapping applications are used for analysis of crime data but are often expensive and lack flexibility, transparency, or efficiency in uncovering associations and relationships in crime. Each crime incident and article of evidence within that incident has an associated spatial and temporal component which may yield significant and relevant information to the case. Wide variations exist in the techniques that departments use and commonly spatial and temporal components of crime are evaluated independently, if at all. Thus, there is a critical need to develop and implement spatio-temporal investigative strategies so police agencies can gain a foundational understanding of crime occurrence within their jurisdiction, develop strategic action for disruption and resolution of crime, conduct more informed investigations, better utilize resources, and provide an overall more effective service. The purpose of this project was to provide foundational knowledge to the investigative and security communities and demonstrate the utility of empirical spatio-temporal methods for the assessment and interpretation of crime incidents. Two software packages were developed as an open source (R) solution to expand current techniques and provide an implementable spatio-temporal methodology for crime analysis. Additionally, an actionable method for near repeat analysis was developed. Firstly, the premise of the near repeat phenomenon was evaluated across crime types and cities to discern optimal parameters for spatial and temporal bandwidths. Using these parameters, a method for identifying near repeat series was developed which draws inter-incident linkages given the spatio-temporal clustering of the incidents. Resultant crime networks and maps provide insight regarding near repeat crime incidents within the landscape of their jurisdiction for targeted investigation. Finally, a new approach to the geographic profiling problem was developed which assesses and integrates the travel environment of road networks, beliefs and assumptions formed through the course of the investigation process about the perpetrator, and information derived from the analysis of evidence. Each piece of information is evaluated in conjunction with spatio-temporal routing functions and then used to update prior beliefs about the anchor point of the perpetrator. Adopting spatio-temporal methodologies for the investigation of crime offers a new framework for forensic operations in the investigation of crime. Systematic consideration about the value and implications of the relationship between space, time, and crime was shown to provide insight regarding crime. In a forward-looking sense this work shows that the interpretation of crime within a spatio-temporal context can provide insight into crime occurrence, linkage of crime incidents, and investigations of those incidents

Vinton Street: Evolution of an ethnic retail ribbon, 1889-1989

Geographers and others have researched the structure, functional relationships and ethnicity along a retail ribbon for a moment in time. Very little, if any attention has been given to their complex relationships over a period of time. Thus, the primary objectives of the study were to examine and determine if Vinton Street in Omaha, Nebraska, is a historic and present-day ethnic retail ribbon, and, furthermore, should time or the evolutionary process be considered as a significant and integral dimension for understanding the city\u27s overall urban retail structure. This study analyzed the historical development of Vinton Street and its adjacent, area, land use classification, location and changes, the ethnic situation of the region and proprietors, plus the mean distance traveled to work by proprietors along Vinton Street for a one hundred year period (1889 to 1989). Each variable served as a chapter that was divided into five time-based stages, Infant through Post Maximal, so comparisons and transitions could be documented for each stage. Then, these stages served as a mechanism to combine this analysis in the final chapter for the conclusion. The results of this geographical analysis indicate that Vinton Street was a historic, ethnic neighborhood retail ribbon that co-exists today as a principal urban arterial ribbon and an ethnic neighborhood retail ribbon. This conclusion was based on such factors as: 1) the direct correlation between the ethnic composition of the study region and the proprietors who operated businesses on the ribbon; 2) the overall ethnic stability of the region and proprietors; 3) the rapid decrease in the number of work-residences found on the artery, as well as within the study region, after its first seventy-years; 4) the consistent increase in the mean distance the proprietor traveled to work; 5) the land use changes from single-function (food and barber/beauty) to urban arterial businesses (furniture, real estate and antique/ variety stores) that are dependent on passing traffic; 6) a larger foreign-population as compared to Omaha throughout the study; and 7) the location and structure of businesses along the principal retail ribbon section of the artery. As a result, the structure and function of an ethnic or urban retail artery evolves or changes through time. A temporal and ethnic focus is indeed a significant dimension that furthers the understanding of the city\u27s overall urban retail structure. Thus, the evolutionary process should be considered an important and integral element in studying the urban retail ribbon, as clearly shown in the Vinton Street study in Omaha, Nebraska

A Spatial Analysis Of Assault Patterns In Entertainment Areas Throughout the Waikato using Geographic Information Systems

Alcohol related violence has long been a matter of social concern. Recent studies investigating the association between assaults and alcohol have found that there are certain places and locations including bars, which are more commonly associated with assaults than other places. Using different spatial analysis techniques accommodated within a Geographic Information System (GIS) including point and choropleth density, Euclidean based distance measures, clustering analysis and geographically weighted regression, this study examines the association between bars and assaults in the Waikato region. It also seeks to explain the assault patterns around bars by various theories, namely the “Social Disorganisation Theory”, “Routine Activity Theory” and the “Crime Potential Theory”. The study determined that for the two year period (2008-2009) in the Waikato Police district there was clear evidence of higher assault levels being associated with areas of higher bar densities. In Hamilton’s CBD there was a particularly strong relationship between assaults and bars where around 25% of all assaults took place within 10 metres of a bar and approximately half of all assaults took place within 50 metres of a bar. Over the study period, one meshblock in Hamilton’s CBD recorded approximately 45 assaults per square kilometre per week. Elsewhere in the Waikato, the study showed a reasonably strong relationship between assaults and bars at the coastal resorts of Whitianga, Raglan and Coromandel township. In these townships, there was a discernable, but lesser relationship to that of the Hamilton CBD, with around 15-25% of assaults taking place within 10 metres of a bar. The assault density in the centre of these coastal townships, as well as other townships throughout the Waikato was generally lower, recording 3-4 assaults per square kilometre per week. Suburban areas in Hamilton City showed similar assault densities to that recorded in the centre of townships throughout the Waikato. The study findings were found to be generally consistent with the Routine Activity and Crime Potential theories by conclusively demonstrating that place, in this instance, bars, and their location, influences the distribution of assaults. The study examined population characteristics only in respect of population density and its proxy, road density, but these variables were not found to be particularly accurate in predicting the distribution of assaults

Challenges and Opportunities Facing China’s Urban Development in the New Era

The acceleration of urban expansion has greatly impacted the study of China’s urban system, and the urban function at the national level has largely been characterised by the spatial distribution and evolution of cities. In order to understand the dynamics of urban development in China, it is necessary to analyse the history of city evolution and understand the context in which that evolution took place. The first section of this paper introduces the urbanisation process in China since the 1950s in order to demonstrate the origins of China’s recenturbanisation patterns. Subsequently, the structural transitions of city scaling and urban clusters are presented by employing Rank-size Analysis and satellite imagery, followed by the challenges brought about by these changes. Finally, the spatial distribution and transition patterns of China’s urban system are analysed using Centrographic Analysis

Standards of CentroGraphic Analysis in an Anatolian Turkish Population

Aim:The aims of this study were to evaluate different facial-form assessment concepts (conventional numeric cephalometric approach and geometric centroid-oriented individualized cephalomorphic approach), to establish cephalomorphic norms from lateral cephalograms of Anatolian Turkish young adults, and to identify possible gender differences between Anatolian Turkish young men and women.Materials and Methods:The subjects included 28 Turkish men (mean age, 24.33±1.66 years) and 40 Turkish women (mean age, 23.12±2.24 years) ranging from 20 to 31 years old. Conventional cephalometric analysis and CentroGraphic analysis were applied to each lateral cephalogram. To determine the errors associated with radiographic measurements, 20 radiographs were selected randomly. Their tracings and measurements were repeated 8 weeks after the first measurements. A paired sample t test was applied to the first and second measurements. An independent-samples t test was performed for statistical evaluation of gender differences.Results:Generally, some differences were observed, but most of the values for skeletal measurements in Anatolian Turkish adults for cephalometric analysis were found to be similar to the ideal norms of different authors. According to statistical analysis, cephalometric and cephalomorphic measurements were similar for men and women, except facial centroid (FC) value. The FC value for women was statistically greater than that for men (p<0.05) CentroGraphic analysis results show that Anatolian Turkish adults have protrusive mandibular and retrusive upper lip.Conclusions:It is appropriate to put these practical CentroGraphic norms into daily orthodontic practice when an Anatolian Turkish population is being treated

GIS-based spatial analysis of place names in Yunnan, China

Yunnan, with the largest number of minority languages in China, is labeled as “The Museum of Dialects”. The rich diversity of ethnic groups is reflected in its toponyms (place names). The objectives of this study are to (1) construct a GIS database of toponyms in Yunnan at the prefecture, county and township levels from a comprehensive toponymical dictionary series of China; (2) analyze the spatial distribution of Han, Tibeto-Burman (Zang-Mian) and Kam-Tai (Zhuang-Dong) toponyms and its association with environmental factors; and (3) examine the historical evolution of toponyms. Results show that the study shows that the highest concentrations of Zang-Mian toponyms are in north and the eastern mountainous areas, and Zhuang-Dong concentrate in the southwest and southeast areas with lower elevations. Statistical analysis reveals that Zhuang-Dong toponyms tend to have lower elevations than Han toponyms, and Zang-Mian toponyms tend to in places higher than Han toponyms. Both minority groups of toponyms are slightly farther from rivers but closer to railways or the major cities than Han toponyms. The standard distance and standard deviation methods help reveal the historical trend of gradual expansion of Han settlement in Yunnan as recorded in the time stamps of toponyms. In Ming Dynasty,Han people spreaded out into south and north, especially the north area. In the Qing Dynasty, Han people expanded to the frontier areas. This suggests that the most significant spread of Han settlement in Yunnan happened in the Qing dynasty