Adapting moving-window metrics to vector datasets for the characterization and comparison of simulated urban scenarios

Abstract

Descriptive scenarios about the possible evolution of land use in our cities are essential instruments in urban planning. Although the simulation of these scenarios has enormous potential, further characterization is needed in order to be able to evaluate and compare them so as to provide more effective support for public policy. One of the most commonly used tools for assessing these scenarios is spatial moving-window metrics, a useful mechanism for extracting accurate information from simulated land-use maps on urban diversity and urban growth patterns. This article seeks to explore this question further and has two main aims. First, to develop and implement vSHEI and vLEI, two multiscale composition and configuration vector moving-window metrics for calculating urban diversity and urban growth patterns. Second, to test these metrics using the spatially explicit simulation of three prospective scenarios in the Henares Corridor (Spain), comparing the results and analyzing how well the scenario narratives match their spatial configuration, as measured using vSHEI and vLEI. Via the implementation of vSHEI and vLEI, we obtained urban diversity and urban expansion values at a local level, offering more precise and more realistic, mappable information on the composition and configuration of urban land use than that provided by raster metrics or by vector Patch-Matrix model metrics. We also used these metrics to test whether the simulated scenarios matched their description in the narrative storylines. Our results demonstrate the potential of vector moving-window metrics for characterizing the urban patterns that might develop under different scenarios at the parcel level.