Articles / Publications / Research
Ref: Porta, S. Latora, V. Wang, F. Rueda, S. Strano, E. Scellato, S. Cardillo, A. Belli, E. Cardenas, F. Cormenzana, B. Latora, L. (2011), Street Centrality and the Location of Economic Activities in Barcelona, «Urban Studies», May 2012; vol. 49, 7: pp. 1471-1488.
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The paper examines the geography of three street centrality indices and their correlations with various types of economic activities in Barcelona, Spain. The focus is on what type of street centrality (closeness, betweenness and straightness) is more closely associated with which type of economic activity (primary and secondary). Centralities are calculated purely on the street network by using a multiple centrality
assessment model, and a kernel density estimation method is applied to both street centralities and economic activities to permit correlation analysis between them. Results indicate that street centralities are correlated with the location of economic activities and that the correlations are higher with secondary than primary activities. The research suggests that, in urban planning, central urban arterials should be conceived
as the cores, not the borders, of neighborhoods.

The paper examines the geography of three street centrality indices and their correlationswith various types of economic activities in Barcelona, Spain. The focus is onwhat type of street centrality (closeness, betweenness and straightness) is moreclosely associated with which type of economic activity (primary and secondary).Centralities are calculated purely on the street network by using a multiple centralityassessment model, and a kernel density estimation method is applied to both streetcentralities and economic activities to permit correlation analysis between them.Results indicate that street centralities are correlated with the location of economicactivities and that the correlations are higher with secondary than primary activities.The research suggests that, in urban planning, central urban arterials should be conceivedas the cores, not the borders, of neighborhoods.