MORPHOLOGY OF THE LAND PARCEL MOSAIC: THE KEY TO UNDERSTAND THE URBANIZATION PROCESS

In this paper we report recent results concerning urbanization process inferred from the analysis of the morphology of the land parcel mosaic. The morphological analysis is based on the parcel size distribution, f (a), and provides a criterion enabling unambiguous classification of each piece of land as (i) city core, (ii) suburbs, and (iii) rural area. Properties of the distribution f (a) exhibit regularities and are robust with respect to geographical, historical, and economical conditions accompanying development of a given area. The urbanization process can be described in terms of the changes of the morphology of the patterns of land fragmentation. A simple model based on a two-dimensional bond percolation is employed to mimic the process of the formation of the city. We argue that the city emerges from a collection of separated settlements in a process that resembles a structural phase transition.