Analyzing urban population data using generalized gamma model and wave-spectrum relation: A case study of Kaohsiung

A quantitative understanding of complex urban growth patterns and processes is crucial to sustainable land management and urban development planning in cities. The spatial organization of urban patterns can be treated as fractals and can be characterized with fractal dimension. However, the calculation of fractal dimension of urban form is often constrained by imperfect and incomplete higher temporal resolution land-use data. Because census data are easily acquired, this study aims to provide a systematic investigation of the relationships between population and urban growth by analyzing changes in urban form that are characterized by fractal dimensions. If the population density in cities follows the negative exponential distribution in proximity, we can use the generalized gamma model and wave-spectrum relation to indirectly estimate the fractal dimension of land-use form in cities. Correlogram analysis is performed to consolidate the results from wave-spectrum relation. Information entropy of the city’s population distribution profile along the radial is calculated to measure the degree of spatial dispersion. The schematic framework is applied to the city of Kaohsiung to get significant insight in the dynamics of pattern formation of the urban population. This is critical for further computer-simulated experiments on urban growth and spatial complexity. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.