On the Measurement and Generalisation of Urban Form

Abstract

Developments in the provision and quality of digital data are opening up possibilities for more detailed measures of the form of urban areas. This paper begins with a review of some of the new data sources that are available in the United Kingdom, specifically the Ordnance Survey's ADDRESS-POINT product. The authors go on to develop a fine-scale data model of population densities, and fractal measures of the way in which urban development fills space. The research findings are compared with those of previous research that used less detailed data models.