Identifying Clusters of Complex Urban–Rural Issues as Part of Policy Making Process Using a Network Analysis Approach: A Case Study in Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico

Sandoval, Javier; Castañón-Puga, Manuel; Gaxiola-Pacheco, Carelia; Suarez, Eugenio Dante

doi:10.3390/su9061059

Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Edit a Special Issue

Article Menu

...

Open AccessArticle

Identifying Clusters of Complex Urban–Rural Issues as Part of Policy Making Process Using a Network Analysis Approach: A Case Study in Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico

Javier Sandoval

^1,*,

Manuel Castañón-Puga

^1,*

Carelia Gaxiola-Pacheco

and

Eugenio Dante Suarez

Computer Engineering Department, Autonomous University of Baja California, 22390 Tijuana, B.C., Mexico

Finance & Decision Sciences Department, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212, USA

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2017, 9(6), 1059; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061059

Received: 1 January 2017 / Revised: 8 June 2017 / Accepted: 13 June 2017 / Published: 19 June 2017

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decipher the Present to Shape the Future- Rethinking the Urban–Rural Nexus)

View Full-Text Download PDF

Browse Figures

Citation Export

Abstract

Improving human settlements diagnosis is a key factor in effective urban planning and the design of efficient policy making. In this paper, we illustrate how network theory concepts can be applied to reveal the topological structure of functional relationships in a network of heterogeneous urban–rural issues. This mapping is done using clustering algorithms and centrality value techniques. By analyzing emergent groups of urban–rural related issues, our methodology was applied to a rural community, considering in this exercise environmental matters and real estate interests as a way to better understand the structure of salient issues in the context of its urban development program design. Results show clusters that arrange themselves not by an obvious similarity in their constituent components, but by relations observed in urban–rural settings that hint on the issues that the urban development program must focus. Due to its complex nature, the classification of these emerging clusters and how they must be treated in traditional planning instruments is a new challenge that this novel methodology reveals. View Full-Text

Keywords: clustering; urban issues; complexity; public policy; network theory

▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Sandoval, J.; Castañón-Puga, M.; Gaxiola-Pacheco, C.; Suarez, E.D. Identifying Clusters of Complex Urban–Rural Issues as Part of Policy Making Process Using a Network Analysis Approach: A Case Study in Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061059

AMA Style

Sandoval J, Castañón-Puga M, Gaxiola-Pacheco C, Suarez ED. Identifying Clusters of Complex Urban–Rural Issues as Part of Policy Making Process Using a Network Analysis Approach: A Case Study in Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico. Sustainability. 2017; 9(6):1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061059

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sandoval, Javier, Manuel Castañón-Puga, Carelia Gaxiola-Pacheco, and Eugenio D. Suarez. 2017. "Identifying Clusters of Complex Urban–Rural Issues as Part of Policy Making Process Using a Network Analysis Approach: A Case Study in Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico" Sustainability 9, no. 6: 1059. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061059

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Identifying Clusters of Complex Urban–Rural Issues as Part of Policy Making Process Using a Network Analysis Approach: A Case Study in Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI