Scaling and Universality in City Space Syntax: between Zipf and Matthew

TL;DR

This paper reveals universal statistical patterns in city space syntax, showing that open space integration and connectivity follow power laws, which may underpin a universal city creation mechanism and land use pattern.

Contribution

It demonstrates the universality of rank-integration distributions and connectivity degree in city space syntax, linking these patterns to city formation processes.

Findings

Rank-integration distributions follow a universal pattern similar to Zipf's law.

Connectivity degree of open spaces follows a power law distribution.

Universal behavior suggests a common city creation mechanism.

Abstract

We report about universality of rank-integration distributions of open spaces in city space syntax similar to the famous rank-size distributions of cities (Zipf's law). We also demonstrate that the degree of choice an open space represents for other spaces directly linked to it in a city follows a power law statistic. Universal statistical behavior of space syntax measures uncovers the universality of the city creation mechanism. We suggest that the observed universality may help to establish the international definition of a city as a specific land use pattern.