Nearest Neighbour Analysis Settlement Geography

Learning outcomes To study the nearest neighbour analysis and how it determines patterns of settlements

Nearest Neighbour Analysis Settlements often appear on maps as dots The patterns of these dots are difficult to describe Sometimes patterns are obvious: Nucleated Dispersed However the pattern is likely to lie between these two extremes Nearest neighbour helps to determine the pattern

The technique Was devised by a botanist to determine plant distributions Allows one region to be compared to another It is only a technique and offers no explanation of patterns

Formula The formula is Rn= 2đ √n/A Rn= The description of the distribution đ = The mean distance between the nearest neighbours n= the number of settlements in the study area A= the area under study (km)

Rn Rn is the description of the settlement distribution This can be as follows: Clustering- where dots are very close together. In extreme cases the value of Rn=0 Random- distributions occur where there is no pattern at all. Rn= 1 Regular- these are perfectly uniform. If ever found in reality they would have a value of 2.15

Nearest Neighbour values See page 402 in Waugh