Marion Le Texier

The provision of urban green space and its accessibility: Spatial data effects in Brussels

Urban green space (UGS) has many environmental and social benefits. UGS provision and access are increasingly considered in urban policies and must rely on data and indicators that can capture variations in the distribution of UGS within cities. There is no consensus about how UGS, and their provision and access, must be defined from different land use data types. Here we identify four spatial dimensions of UGS and critically examine how different data sources affect these dimensions and our understanding of their variation within a city region (Brussels). We compare UGS indicators measured from an imagery source (NDVI from Landsat), an official cadastre-based map, and the voluntary geographical information provided by OpenStreetMap (OSM). We compare aggregate values of provision and access to UGS as well as their spatial distribution along a centrality gradient and at neighbourhood scale. We find that there are strong differences in the value of indicators when using the different datasets, especially due to their ability to capture private and public green space. However we find that the interpretation of intra-urban spatial variations is not affected by changes in data source. Centrality in particular is a strong determinant of the relative values of UGS availability, fragmentation and accessibility, irrespective of datasets.

Assessing geographical effects in spatial diffusion processes: The case of euro coins

We examine how geographical structures impact diffusion processes within a regional system. From the example of euro coin diffusion across countries, we show how the relative position and population endowment of regions impact our understanding of interregional mobility, beyond simple spatial interaction effects. The mix of coins of different origins is a complex but unique trace of the movement of individuals within a common currency area, potentially revealing a new facet of European integration. We simulate an individual-based dynamic model where agents move and exchange coins across regions. We analyse the convergence towards a homogeneous mix of coins through time for a series of different theoretical spatial systems. This sensitivity analysis demonstrates the impact of the regularity and aggregation levels, or centrality/periphery effects, on spatial diffusion dynamics. We then calibrate the model against empirical data for the regions of 5 European countries and provide estimates of mobility rates, distance decay and population attractiveness factors, affecting the diffusion of coins, hence international movements and European integration.