Uncovering inequality through multifractality of land prices: 1912 and contemporary Kyoto

PLoS One. 2018 Apr 30;13(4):e0196737. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196737. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Multifractal analysis offers a number of advantages to measure spatial economic segregation and inequality, as it is free of categories and boundaries definition problems and is insensitive to some shape-preserving changes in the variable distribution. We use two datasets describing Kyoto land prices in 1912 and 2012 and derive city models from this data to show that multifractal analysis is suitable to describe the heterogeneity of land prices. We found in particular a sharp decrease in multifractality, characteristic of homogenisation, between older Kyoto and present Kyoto, and similarities both between present Kyoto and present London, and between Kyoto and Manhattan as they were a century ago. In addition, we enlighten the preponderance of spatial distribution over variable distribution in shaping the multifractal spectrum. The results were tested against the classical segregation and inequality indicators, and found to offer an improvement over those.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Cities
  • Commerce
  • Fractals*
  • Japan
  • London
  • Models, Economic*
  • Models, Statistical
  • New York
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Socioeconomic Factors*
  • Time Factors

Grants and funding

R.M. was supported by ERC Grant [249393-ERC-2009-AdG] and also acknowledges the support of UK ESRC Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) [ES/L011840/1]. E.A. was supported by EPSRC Digital Economy Phase 2: UK Regions Digital Research Facility (UK RDRF) [EP/M023583/1, 2015–2020]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.