The Fractal Geometry of Turkey’s Urban Transportation Networks

Abstract

This study presents a fractal analysis of the urban transportation systems of Turkey. Box-counting fractal dimensions were determined by using BENOIT, analysing the 81 cities in Turkey. A simple statistical model was derived, using log-linear functions, to indicate the relationships between fractal dimension and the urban form parameters of urbanized area, urban population, number of the urban transportation network’s lines, and the urban transportation network lines’ total lengths. The results show that the Turkish systems have box-counting fractal dimensions (Db) between 1.438 and 1.795. A strong correlation was found between Db and the Log of all urban parameters, with an R2 of 0.880. The strongest positive singular correlation, with R2 equalling 0.800, was between Db and the log of number of lines in network. Db and log of network line’s total length also had a strong positive correlation, with an R2 of 0.756. Moderate positive correlations were found between Db and the logs of both urbanized area and population, with R2 of 0.573 and 0.456, respectively. Results support the theory that considers fractal dimension an indicator of a network’s complexity, as a mature city would likely have a better, more complex transport network system than a less mature one.