Sestieri of Venice

We have investigated space syntax of Venice by means of random walks. Random walks being defined on an undirected graph establish the Euclidean space in which distances and angles between nodes acquire the clear statistical interpretation. The properties of nodes with respect to random walks allow partitioning the city canal network into disjoint divisions which may be identified with the traditional divisions of the city (sestieri). 1 The Sestieri of Venice Spectral methods can be implemented in order to visualize graphs of not very large multi-component networks [1]. City districts constructed accordingly to different development principles in different historical epochs can be envisioned on the dual graph representation of space syntax. We investigate the segmentation of the spatial network of 96 canals in Venice (that stretches across 122 small islands between which the canals serve the function of roads) in accordance to its historical divisions. The sestieri are the primary traditional divi