Is There Really a Wrong Side of the Tracks in Urban Areas and Does It Matter for Spatial Analysis?

Sharp socioeconomic differences between adjacent neighborhoods run counter to Tobler's first law (TFL) of geography and call into question the blanket application of smoothing techniques designed to handle spatial autocorrelation. In a recent project, large socioeconomic differences between adjacent neighborhoods were observed coinciding with physical features at the neighborhood boundary such as rivers, parks, railroads, and highways. Literature on urban form suggests mechanisms by which these features might create or maintain socioeconomic differences. We therefore test whether the presence of physical features on neighborhood boundaries is associated with greater socioeconomic disparity between the neighborhoods and whether the types of features less easily crossed are more strongly associated. The study area was the city of Glasgow, Scotland. We used vector data to determine which of N = 1,914 neighborhood boundaries coincided with physical features, a well-validated measure of multiple deprivation to assess differences in socioeconomic character across these boundaries, and linear regression to assess associations. The presence of physical features was weakly associated with greater socioeconomic difference across neighborhood boundaries (B = 0.193, p = 0.006). Water (rivers/canals; B = 0.378, p = 0.005) and open spaces (B = 0.283, p = 0.016) were most strongly associated. The presence of physical features, however, was neither necessary nor sufficient for large interneighborhood differences in socioeconomic character. We thus confirm that TFL is not infallible and suggest that spatial analysts need to be concerned about the blanket application of spatial smoothing. Physical features do not hold influence of sufficient size or consistency to guide when and when not to smooth values in spatial analysis, however. ???????????????, ???????? (TFL) ??, ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????, ???????????, ???????????????????????????, ?????????????????????????????????????, ???????????????, ???????????, ?????????????????????????????????????????, ?? N = 1,914 ?????, ?????????, ?????????????, ?????????????, ??????????????????????, ??????????????????? (B = 0.193, p = 0.006) ??? (??/??; B = 0.378, p = 0.005) ?????? (B = 0.283, p = 0.016), ??????????????, ????????????????????????????, TFL ??????, ???, ?????????????????????????????????????????????? (??) ?????????? Palabras claveLas agudas diferencias socioeconomicas que se presentan entre vecindarios adyacentes van en contravia de la primera ley de la geografia de Tobler (TFL) y ponen en duda la aplicacion indiscriminada de tecnicas suavizantes disenadas para el manejo de la autocorrelacion. En un reciente proyecto, se observo que las mayores diferencias socioeconomicas entre vecindarios colindantes coincidian con los rasgos fisicos adoptados como limite del vecindario, tales como rios, parques, ferrocarriles y autopistas. La literatura sobre la forma urbana sugiere mecanismos mediante los cuales estos rasgos podrian crear o mantener diferencias socioeconomicas. Es por eso por lo que buscamos establecer si la presencia de rasgos fisicos sobre los limites de vecindarios esta realmente asociada con una disparidad socioeconomica mas grande entre los vecindarios, y si los tipos de rasgos que exhiben menor facilidad de cruce estan mas fuertemente asociados. El area de estudio fue la ciudad de Glasgow, Escocia. Utilizamos datos vectores para determinar cual de los limites del vecindario de N = 1,914 coincidia con rasgos fisicos, una medida de carencia multiple bien validada para evaluar diferencias de caracter socioeconomico a traves de estos limites, y regresion linear para evaluar los grados de asociacion. La presencia de rasgos fisicos estuvo debilmente asociada con una diferencia socioeconomica mas grande a traves de los limites de vecindario (B = 0.193, p = 0.006). Agua (rios/canales; B = 0.378, p = 0.005) y espacios abiertos (B = 0.283, p = 0.016) estuvieron mas fuertemente asociados. Sin embargo, la presencia de rasgos fisicos no fue ni necesaria ni suficiente para explicar las diferencias mayores de caracter socioeconomico entre vecindarios. De ese modo confirmamos que la TFL no es infalible y sugerimos que el analisis espacial deberia preocuparse mas en relacion con la aplicacion indiscriminada de la suavizacion espacial. Los rasgos fisicos, sin embargo, no comandan influencia de suficiente fuerza o consistencia para orientar sobre cuando suavizar valores en analisis espacial y cuando no.