Settlement Morphology Research Articles

Spatially Explicit Analysis of Landscape Structures, Urban Growth, and Economic Dynamics in Metropolitan Regions

Assuming that settlement morphologies and landscape structures are the result of economic transformations, the present study illustrates a statistical framework investigating metropolitan growth due to the inherent changes in landscape configurations vis à vis socio-demographic functions. Focusing on the evolution of their spatial drivers over time, metropolitan development was studied by adopting land parcels (or ‘patches’, as they are referred to in the ecological literature) as the elementary analysis unit—with the individual surface area and a specific shape indicator as the dependent variables and background socioeconomic attributes as predictors of landscape change over time. We specifically ran a Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) testing the spatial dependence of the size and shape of landscape parcels on a vast ensemble of socioeconomic factors in a dense region (metropolitan Athens, Greece) with natural landscapes exposed to increasing human pressure. To investigate the spatial direction and intensity of the settlement expansion and landscape change, local regressions using the parcel area and fractal index (perimeter-to-area ratio) as the dependent variables and the elevation, distance from selected economic nodes, transport infrastructures, and natural amenities as the predictors were run separately for 1990 and 2018, representative of, respectively, a mono-centric configuration and a moderately polycentric organization of economic spaces. In a strictly mono-centric setting (1990), the parcel size showed a linear dependence on the distance from business districts, elevation, and wealth. Changes in the relationship between the parcel size and spatial (economic and non-economic) drivers may suggest a latent process of settlement de-concentration, and a possible shift toward polycentric development (2018), as documented in earlier studies. By integrating socioeconomic and ecological dimensions of landscape analysis and land evaluation, the empirical results of this study outline the increased complexity of dispersed landscape structures within dense metropolitan regions and along urban–rural gradients in Europe.

Research on Correlation Morphology of Traditional Settlements in Ingressive Region Under the Influence of Water Conservancy Construction: A Case Study of the Ningshao Plain

Research on Correlation Morphology of Traditional Settlements in Ingressive Region Under the Influence of Water Conservancy Construction: A Case Study of the Ningshao Plain

Determining the Urban Morphology of Historical Settlements through Water Supply Lines: The Case of Eğrikapı Neighborhood

Determining the Urban Morphology of Historical Settlements through Water Supply Lines: The Case of Eğrikapı Neighborhood

The Influence of Agricultural Land Use on the Drivers of Peri-Urban Settlement Formation in Highland Landscapes: a Case Study in the Kayumas Village

The Peri-Urban as part of the urban spatial structure, plays a crucial role in creating urban space. In Situbondo, the characteristics of the Peri-Urban consist of mixed urban and peri-urban land use areas, with agriculture dominating the land use. One of the livelihoods in the Peri-Urban is agriculture. Variables in this study involve elements of settlement morphology, factors influencing the formation of morphology and agriculture, and various other indicators related to these variables. This paper aims to examine the characteristics of agriculture areas and identify factors influencing the formation of peri-urban settlements. This research can provide references to optimize land use in peri-urban settlements. In this study, the researcher employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. Data collection involves recording events that occur in the field during interviews and observations to obtain accurate and reliable research results. The data will be processed using SPSS and ArcGIS 10.8.2 to obtain relevant, supportive accurate, and comprehensive results. From the findings of this research, it is expected that peri-urban settlements require more attention to enhance the environment and public services. In response to the consumption-oriented needs of urban communities, Peri-Urban farmers have intensified the use of multifunctional land activities. However, not all multifunctional opportunities are fully developed, considering the farming activities conducted near the city. This can be an innovative characteristic of land use in the Situbondo Peri-Urban area, indicating that agriculture is a priority land use in the region by improving the quality of harmonious relationships between urban and peri-urban areas through agriculture activities

Contextualization Matters: Beyond Abstract, Normative and Universal Approaches

The negative ecological, health and social impacts of intensive agricultural production and deforestation, coupled with rapid urban and suburban development motivated some architects, land-use planners, landscape and urban designers last century to consider how the morphology and size of human settlements impact on natural and human ecosystems at local, regional and global levels. Some initiatives 50 years ago, including the seminal contributions of Constantinos A. Doxiadis, John Habraken, Victor Papanek (among others), preceded current concerns about complex people-society-environment-biosphere interrelations in a rapidly urbanizing world. Notably, the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda recognize these dilemmas, but these initiatives have not borne anticipated outcomes since 2015. This article explains that the proposed responses to these societal challenges by these international initiatives have devalued fundamental elements of ekistics that combined and synthesized five forces - economic, social, political, technical and cultural factors in a holistic and systemic model. In addition, abstract, dogmatic, normative, and universal approaches commonly used in architecture and urban planning during the last century have remained dominant. The author requests a fundamental rethinking of key drivers of rapid urbanization that need to be understood and corrected according to the diversity and plurality of contextual conditions in which human settlements are constructed. These can be identified and accommodated in Living Labs which are creative real-world settings that explicitly reconnect knowledge and praxis about human habitats, thus overcoming the current deficit in implementing the SDGs, and in particular SDG 11.

지질고고학적 분석을 통해 본 신석기시대 주거지와 취락의 공간 이용상

Geoarchaeological investigation is useful for reconstructing domestic activities within an architectural structure based on analysis of physical and chemical components in the soil. Addressing research cases of the use of space in the Middle and Near East during the Neolithic times that successfully demonstrated the utility of geoarchaeological methodologies and introducing relevant and representative geoarchaeological works, this paper aims to provide the background research for promoting prospective studies on the use of space in Korean Neolithic culture. This paper summarizes the study cases following the categories of settlement morphology model (individual structures, intrasettlement and surrounding landscapes) along with the temporal changes of living floor construction. This article surveys previous studies on (i) functionally differentiated spaces (e.g., food processing and cooking, resting and sleeping, livestock rearing, ritual practices) within the living floors of structures, (ii) roads and middens that were spaces for various activities in the vicinity of settlements and (iii) landscapes around settlements in terms of agricultural and pastoral fields. Whereas these studies provide empirical evidence of habitation and use of space, they also extend to theoretical approaches that address how the materiality of a group's prehistoric culture has shaped its character. Reviewing previous studies in the Middle and Near Eastern regions, this paper intends to offer analytical frameworks and references to guide geoarchaeological research applications to the future Korean Neolithic studies primarily through presenting the two notable pilot studies from Gosanri and Hajungdong that have exhibited the methodological potentials.

Settlement relationships and their morphological homogeneity across time and scale

Homogeneous settlement morphologies negatively impact urban vibrancy, the environment, and emotions. Mainly resulting from the separation of functions such as work and living, homogeneous settlements have often been found around large cities. However, it remains unknown whether this phenomenon occurs in settlements of any size and persisted over time. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the internal structures of settlements and their location within a settlement network at a large spatial scale and a fine resolution, over seven time steps covering 120 years of settlement development. Using building footprints and road geometries from historical maps of the Swiss Plateau in combination with historical travel speeds, we analyzed networks at both the local- (building networks) and the regional-scale (settlement networks). Our findings show that particularly small settlements located near larger settlements exhibit a high degree of morphological homogeneity, and that this pattern persisted since the early twentieth century despite strong changes in mobility. These results suggest that the position of a settlement within a settlement network can have an impact on its morphological homogeneity, which in turn can have consequences for the functionality and livability of the settlement and provides useful insight to the development of settlements.

Spatial Differentiation and Driving Force Detection of Rural Settlements in the Yangtze River Delta Region

As an economically developed region, the Yangtze River Delta region has undergone earth-shaking changes in its rural settlements due to rapid urbanization. For the optimization and adjustment of rural settlements, it is crucial to disclose their distinguishing spatial features and impelling factors. Taking 307 county-level administrative regions in the Yangtze River Delta region as the research object, this study comprehensively uses the landscape index, nearest neighbor index, Moran index, and spatial hot spot detection system to analyze the spatial differentiation characteristics of rural residential location-scale morphology and reveals its driving factors using the optimal parameters-based geographical detector model. According to the findings, rural settlements in the Yangtze River Delta region exhibit an average nearest neighbor index of 0.7417, a Moran’s I of 1.2993 for the number of patches (NP), and a maximum patch density (PD) of 17.25 villages per square kilometer. It has significant characteristics of large-scale village cluster distribution, and the morphology of rural settlements in the southern and northern regions shows apparent differences. The natural environment and social economies, such as elevation, slope, precipitation, and population density, mainly drive the location-scale morphological spatial distribution of rural settlements. At the same time, the interaction between the natural environment, social economy, and location condition factors has a synergistic enhancement effect on the spatial distribution of location-scale morphology of rural settlements.

Spatial Difference Studies and Driving Force Analysis of Rural Settlements in the Northwest Sichuan Plateau

The scattered, isolated, and closed nature of rural settlements in northwest Sichuan is a constraint on the high-quality development of rural areas. Determining the spatial differences and driving forces of rural settlements in this area is the essential prerequisite for promoting rural revitalization. In this paper, the methods of the nearest neighbor index, the Voronoi diagram, and the Geodetector are used to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of rural settlements and explore the driving factors of their spatial differences. The key findings are as follows. (1) The rural settlements exhibit the feature of “an extensive dispersion with localized concentrations”. The spatial distribution is in the shape of dots, strips, and branches along the river valley. (2) The number and land use scale of rural settlements decreases from east to west. The spatial differences in settlement morphology have a clear feature that the settlement morphology along the river and road is more complex, while the settlement morphology in the plateau area and the river valley is relatively regular. (3) Mountain disasters and arable land resources have the greatest impact on the spatial differences of the settlements. The location and form of the settlements are greatly affected by the altitude and accumulated temperature, and the settlement scale is significantly affected by the traffic conditions and the scenic spots. The mutually reinforcing role of the driving factors is remarkable, especially the reinforcing effects of the enhancement between the arable land resources and other factors. The research results provide data support for the reconstruction, improvement, and high-quality development of rural settlements in this region.

Environmental determinants of access to shared sanitation in informal settlements: a cross-sectional study in Abidjan and Nairobi

BackgroundUniversal access to basic sanitation remains a global challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Efforts are underway to improve access to sanitation in informal settlements, often through shared facilities. However, access to these facilities and their potential health gains—notably, the prevention of diarrheal diseases—may be hampered by contextual aspects related to the physical environment. This study explored associations between the built environment and perceived safety to access toilets, and associations between the latter and diarrheal infections.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out between July 2021 and February 2022, including 1714 households in two informal settlements in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and two in Nairobi (Kenya). We employed adjusted odds ratios (aORs) obtained from multiple logistic regressions (MLRs) to test whether the location of the most frequently used toilet was associated with a perceived lack of safety to use the facility at any time, and whether this perceived insecurity was associated with a higher risk of diarrhea. The MLRs included several exposure and control variables, being stratified by city and age groups. We employed bivariate logistic regressions to test whether the perceived insecurity was associated with settlement morphology indicators derived from the built environment.ResultsUsing a toilet outside the premises was associated with a perceived insecurity both in Abidjan [aOR = 3.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13–8.70] and in Nairobi (aOR = 57.97, 95% CI: 35.93–93.53). Perceived insecurity to access toilets was associated with diarrheal infections in the general population (aOR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.29–2.79 in Abidjan, aOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.22–2.34 in Nairobi), but not in children below the age of 5 years. Several settlement morphology features were associated with perceived insecurity, namely, buildings’ compactness, the proportion of occupied land, and angular deviation between neighboring structures.ConclusionsToilet location was a critical determinant of perceived security, and hence, must be adequately addressed when building new facilities. The sole availability of facilities may be insufficient to prevent diarrheal infections. People must also be safe to use them. Further attention should be directed toward how the built environment affects safety.Graphical

A structural catalogue of the settlement morphology in refugee and IDP camps

In the past decade, the number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) has doubled. This prompted the construction of more refugee camps and the proliferation of existing camps with diverse structural morphologies. Satellite imagery and machine learning (ML) are increasingly utilized to map these camps. However, there exists no standardized inventory that systemizes the built-up structures of these camps. In this study, we conceptualize the settlement morphology of refugee and IDP camps from satellite images and create a structure catalogue. Using visual image interpretation (VII) of very-high-resolution and multitemporal imagery, we compile a global database of settlement structures from 285 camps across 1,053 observations. This catalogue is subsequently used to synthesize patterns in camp structures and temporal dynamics. The results show stark variations in settlement structures across camps. Despite some similar regional patterns, stark differences in morphologies are a testament to the global heterogeneous landscape of refugee and IDP camp structures. These findings highlight the importance of considering morphological differences in image analyses across camps in future designs of ML-based automated detection and monitoring efforts. Therein, the Structure Catalogue serves as an important foundation for future earth observation for humanitarian applications.

Identification and delineation of settlement space functions in the south Scandinavian Iron Age: theoretical perspectives and practical approaches

This article presents an overview of methods used in south Scandinavian archaeology for identification and delineation of settlement space functions. The overview includes commonly utilised archaeological approaches, such as artefact distribution studies and inferences based on assessment of house and settlement morphologies, as well as archaeobotanical, geochemical and geophysical approaches to functional analysis. The theoretical potential and limitations of each presented functional parameter are outlined and thereafter applied and compared using material from five case study sites in east-central Jutland, Halland and Bohuslän. The presentation of the site of Gedved Vest in east-central Jutland also incorporates a comparison of two common approaches to geochemical sampling: 1) sampling and analysis of soil retrieved from feature fills, and 2) horizontal sampling of soil from the interface between the topsoil (A/ Ap) and the subsoil (C) - horizons along a pre-determined grid.

Morphology of Settlement of the Dayak Kenyah Tribe, Budaya Pampang Village, Samarinda City in a Socio-Cultural Context

The Dayak Kenyah community is a dynamic tribe influenced by its socio-cultural context. Socio-cultural changes will affect the form of settlement. This journal focuses on the influence of the socio-cultural context on the settlement morphology of the Dayak Kenyah tribe in the Budaya Pampang Village to get meaning in forming their settlements. This study uses Levi-Strauss structuralism to see the meaning behind the relationship between the spatial morphology of settlements and socio-culture from data collection results such as physical evidence, interviews, and questionnaires. The results of this study found the meaning of defense, togetherness and kinship, spirituality, harmony with nature, and adaptation in the spatial formation of Dayak Kenyah settlements.

Settlement Pattern Morphology of Ampera Village

Kampung Ampera is one of the traditional settlements in the modern era and still maintains its customs. The Malay ethnicity is a characteristic of the people of Kampung Ampera. A settlement formed for the royal, colonial and modern eras. This settlement pattern is interesting to study because its living is part of historical growth and a form of settlement pattern that continues to grow and develop all this time. Not only that, the existence of a settlement pattern that persists with the traditional settlement pattern is the identity of the Malay community's settlement pattern. The formulation of the problem studied is the morphology of settlement patterns in the three periods and the factors that influence changes in their development. This research aims to identify the morphology of settlement patterns and the factors that affect them. This research is a qualitative descriptive study with an explanatory approach, showing the perspective of looking for an explanation of how this phenomenon can occur based on facts. The analysis technique used in settlement morphology is mapping settlement patterns in the royal (1750-1860), colonial (1860-1870), and modern (1900-present) periods. The morphological study of the settlements of Kampung Ampera includes, namely: land use, building typology, road network (linkage), and plot pattern (district). The study found that the morphology pattern spread linearly following the original river network to become a road network, the effect factor in the settlement was the view through the ecistic element factors.

A FRACTAL MODEL FOR THE TUNNELING-INDUCED GROUND SURFACE SETTLEMENT

The Gaussian function was initially adopted to model the tunneling-induced ground surface settlement, but it could not describe the porosity’s effect on the settlement. To solve the problem, Yu’s fractal theory is implemented to model the porous grand’s geometric property, and the surface settlement profile is modeled by a fractal solitary wave, furthermore, the effects of the maximal surface settlement, the porosity and Yu’s fractal dimension on the settlement’s profile are discussed. The new model offers a new view to predict the morphology of the surface settlement.

Three-dimensional measurement and coupling and coordination evolution of recessive land use morphology of rural settlements: A case of Henan Province

Three-dimensional measurement and coupling and coordination evolution of recessive land use morphology of rural settlements: A case of Henan Province

Growth Morphology of Settlement on the Riverside Musi in Palembang

The growth of settlements on the banks of the Musi River, Palembang as a center of trade and government cannot be separated from the existence of rivers and their flows which then change the morphology of the riverbanks. The morphological development of the city formed as a result of riverbank reclamation is strongly influenced by endogenous and exogenous forces. Physical development by the community that is not in harmony with the river causes environmental problems that affect the quality of the residential environment. The research method uses a qualitative case study approach to explore information on the reality of the field in the research area. Each segment is analyzed for settlement growth which is formulated into four categories and then produces a theme. Overall, the morphology of the settlement growth of the Musi Riverside is in two patterns, namely with urban growth where the riverside settlement area has a cluster and linear pattern that has an impact on the economic growth of the settlement and is not in harmony with the morphology of the riverbank with all its mixing activities. Furthermore, linear growth, where the growth of suburban settlements is only concentrated in areas that provide road access, and riverside land is still a water catchment area.

Retracted: A Graph Neural Network (GNN) Algorithm for Constructing the Evolution Process of Rural Settlement Morphology

Retracted: A Graph Neural Network (GNN) Algorithm for Constructing the Evolution Process of Rural Settlement Morphology

Immigrant and Urban Re-Generation

Abstract This study has started from the knowledge of the juridical-normative frame regulating the foreigners’ social rights in EU and in Italy and from the reading of directives, programs and documents produced from the EU and from the Region Campania. After this, the study has moved toward the tab of around fifty national and international case studies related to the activity of inclusion and of integration of the immigrated ones. From the comparative reading of the case studies, some immediately transferable strengths have been individualized. Then, we compared the cases studies with the European, Italian and regional Program; the next step has been the examination of the weight of the population immigrated in Italy and in the Region Campania and of its burden in the variation and formation of the real estate. In this way we have had useful "suggestions" for the elaboration of Urban Plans able to support the construction of the inter-cultural city and urban community (Consiglio d’Europa, 2003). In fact, in conclusion, the paper proposes an urban design in the city of Castel Volturno, which is one of four municipalities, along with Mondragone, Sessa Aurunca and Cellole, that belongs to the Domitian coast (Caserta). Since the nineties, the migrants who arrived on Italian territory recognized in the Domitian coast a new attraction center. This immigrant’s presence has led a change in the morphology of settlement. They live in a small town where there is social, urban and environmental decay.

Study on spatial morphology of cold area settlements based on microclimate parameterized model

In the steady development of social economy, the quality of life of urban residents is getting higher and higher, the attention to the spiritual life is getting stronger and stronger, a good urban living environment has gradually become an important factor to evaluate the superiority of the city. Especially for the residential environment in cold areas, the winter is long and cold, accompanied by strong cold wind and snow, in-depth study of the spatial form of residential areas in cold areas, clear the corresponding microclimate conditions, can put forward targeted optimization measures, improve the comfort of outdoor environment, and ensure the quality of life safety of urban residents. Therefore, on the basis of understanding the research status of residential building planning and layout in recent years, this paper takes the spatial form of a region as an example to construct a microclimate parameterized model. The final research results prove that the climate environment of urban residential areas is targeted, different and personalized under the influence of the layout of residential areas. The effective layout means can show its regulating effect and effectively improve the environmental conditions of urban residents.