spatial data analysis
A type of geographical analysis which seeks to explain patterns of human behaviour and its spatial expression in terms of mathematics and geometry; that is, locational analysis. Examples include nearest neighbour analysis and Thiessen polygons. Many of the models are grounded in micro-economics and predict the spatial patterns which should occur, in, for example, the growth of networks and urban systems, given a number of preconditions such as the isotropic plain, movement minimization, and profit maximization. It is based on the tenet that economic man is responsible for the development of the landscape, and is therefore subject to the usual criticisms of that concept, such as the lack of free will.
New methodologies of spatial analysis include geocomputation and spatial statistical theory.
