Abstract
Spatial networks organize and structure human social, economic, and cultural systems. The analysis of network structure is rooted in mathematical graph theory, and spatial networks are a special type of graphs that are embedded on the earth’s surface. Thus, their analysis necessitates the fusion of graph theoretical and geographic concepts. Key concepts and definitions from graph theory are reviewed and used to develop a variety of graph structural measures, which can be used to investigate local and global network structure. Particular emphasis is placed on three major concepts: high-level network structural features of centrality, cohesive subgraphs, and structural equivalence. With these metrics in mind, we describe considerations for their use within a spatial context. Pointers to empirical research on real-world spatial networks are provided.
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Andris, C., O’Sullivan, D. (2021). Spatial Network Analysis. In: Fischer, M.M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60723-7_67
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60723-7_67
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