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

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 c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied geography (Sevenoaks) 2010-04, Vol.30 (2), p.229-238
Main Authors: Ayhan, Irem, Mert Cubukcu, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Geographic information systems
GIS
Mosque
Mosques
Proxy client servers
Satellite navigation systems
Spatial statistics
Statistics
Temples
Turkey
Urban development
Urban geography
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0143-6228
1873-7730
DOI:10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.05.002