Explaining historical urban development using the locations of mosques: A GIS/spatial statistics-based approach

Ayhan İ., Çubukçu K. M.

APPLIED GEOGRAPHY, cilt.30, sa.2, ss.229-238, 2010 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 30 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2010
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.05.002
  • Dergi Adı: APPLIED GEOGRAPHY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.229-238
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Spatial statistics, Urban geography, GIS, Mosque, CITIES, CITY
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Religious buildings, including temples, churches, synagogues and mosques have always been one of the integral components of the urban layout. This paper aims to answer the question whether the historical spatial development of a large-size city can be approximated using historical geographical and categorical data pertaining to its places of worship. We use data for 525 mosques built in Izmir, Turkey, over the years 1550-2008 and maps of built-up areas for the same period. Based on the results of GIS/spatial statistics-based analyses using the three basic measures of spatial statistics (mean center, weighted mean center and standard deviational ellipse), we conclude that the spatial distribution of mosques is a close proxy of urban development. Thus, location data for places of worship, often available and accessible, can be used to derive historical urban development over a given period. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.