Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
and relationships between the regional economies. Gravity-based model
(Lowry, 1964) is one of the most widely-used methods at a regional level for
the analysis of the regional economic interactions and transport. Gravity-based
models explicitly model and predict the spatial interactions in a region's (or a
nation's) economy. Regional planning uses spatial interaction analysis to
forecast trends in migration, employment and capital flows. The spatial
division of regional spatial interaction typically uses economic regions to
reflect regional economic and transport performance.
Metropolitan Level
Research at the metropolitan-level scale focuses on the transport processes
of smaller spatial units (e.g. traffic zones). At this intermediate level, the
processes focus on the actions of main elements of the urban transport
systems, such as, the interactions and behaviours of the institutes or the local
residential/economic communities of a region. The problems under
investigation at this level include transport activities to various functional
destinations such as travel to work, school, shops and recreational activities.
The transport problems typically focus on the geography of transport zones,
inter-zonal transportation, transport patterns and associated energy
consumption (Dodson et al., 2007) and performance of transport networks
including road and public transport systems. In addition, congestion is also a
common question at city level around the world and solution must be sought to
alleviate these problems.
Essentially the transport interactions at metropolitan level have an
inherent spatial component comprising area of transport zones (e.g. origin
zone and a destination zone), and interactions and movements between
transport zones. Developing an understanding of the basic relationship of the
transport interactions, and its variation according to the type of activities, and
transport mode are central to the search for solutions to the problem.
Geographical Information Systems (GISs) have a potentially large role to play
in the analysis and visualization of transport data permitting more in-depth
studies to be undertaken. Especially its ability to integrate multiple data
sources such as census statistics, road networks and their associated capacities
permits more advanced measures of movement between traffic zones to be
incorporated.
Theories and research methods have been developed at this level since
about the 1960s. The transport analysis based on the micro-economic theory or
