Knowledge Discovery in Spatial Planning Data: A Concept for Cluster Understanding - Computational Approaches for Urban Environments - page 49

Tabl e 3. 1 Variables used to describe the UD data

Label Measurement Description Literature

OpenSpaceMeshSize Effective mesh

size (modified) of
open space areas
(%)

The larger the effective mesh size
in a reference area, the lower the
degree

European
Environment
Agency ( 2011 ),
Moser et al. ( 2007 ),
and Jaeger ( 2000 )

of fragmentation of the

landscape

BuildingArea Area per resident

(m 2 /resident)

High indicator values indicate
high land consumption for build-
ings per resident (low efficiency
of land use)

Behnisch et al.
( 2013 ) and Zentrale
Stelle Hausumringe
und
Hauskoordinaten
( 2013 )

SettlementDensity No. of residents

per settlement
area
(residents/km 2 )

The indicator describes the urban
density, based on the settlement
area and transport area of a refer-
ence area

Siedentop and Fina
( 2010 )and
Siedentop et al.
( 2007 )

SealedSurface Ratio of sealed

surface to total
area (%)

This is a general ecological in-
dicator to describe various forms
of environmental loads associated
with settlements, available for the
first time in Germany in this form.
The base data is a European data
set that has only been available for
a short period of time and which
makes use of ortho-rectified satel-
lite images, analyzed into classes

European
Environment
Agency ( 2013 )and
Siedentop et al.
( 2007 )

LandConsumption Ratio of

settlement and
transport area to
total reference
area (%)

Land consumption encompasses
both the loss of agricultural land
and natural habitats as well as
the expansion of settlement and
transport areas

Krüger et al.
( 2013 ), Siedentop
and Fina ( 2010 ),
Storch and Schmidt
( 2008 ), Siedentop
et al. ( 2007 ), and
Dosch ( 2001 )

ProtectedAreas Ratio of protected

areas to total
reference area
(%)

This indicator describes the pro-
portionoflandinanurbandistrict
(excluding municipal coastal wa-
ters) designated as protected

Krüger et al. ( 2013 )

HemerobyIndex Spatially

weighted mean of
the hemeroby
steps of all forms
of land use in a
reference area
[nondimensional]

The index provides a measure
of the cultural influence of hu-
mans on the natural environment,
or an inverse measure of natu-
ralness (1 = no cultural influence,
...,6=strong cultural influence)

Walz and Stein
( 2014 )and
Steinhardt et al.
( 1999 )

In Table 3.1 , you can find a brief label of the variables, the form of measurement,
units used, and a short description. For further information on the variables, see
also the literature references on the right. The indicators of the IOER Monitor,
derived from standard geo-topographic data sets, are more often reliable than official