Contribution to the fractal analysis of cities: A study of the metropolitan area of Milan

Abstract

The presentation of fractal analysis of the metropolitan area of Milan begins with a historical description of the evolution of the urbanization process of the city, in order to characterize precise and homogenous areas (from a historical point of view). These areas will be analyzed using the fractal technique. Three main aspects characterize the fractal analysis of Milan: the study of the perimeter of the city, using the method of the dilatation in order to extract the perimeter, and correlation analysis in order to calculate the fractal dimension ; the study of whole urbanized surfaces, using correlation, dilatation and grid analysis ; the study of some areas of the city that have been described in the first part of the presentation. The results are then introduced and discussed, focusing on the relationship between the value of the fractal dimension and the city context to which it refers, and comparing among fractal dimensions of selected areas.

Keywords

• fractals
• perimeter
• urbanized/urbanised surface