USRoadNetworkEvolution - A set of Python-based tools to model and characterize historical road networks in the conterminous United States.

These tools facilitate the reproduction and extension of the analyses presented in Burghardt, K., Uhl, J., Lerman, K., & Leyk, S. (2021). Road Network Evolution in the Urban and Rural United States Since 1900. The datasets used to execute the scripts in this repository can be found in Figshare.

The tools are based on the integration of historical settlement layers, available as gridded surfaces from the HISDAC-US data compilation (Leyk & Uhl 2018, Uhl et al. 2021) and modern road network data from the USGS National Transportation Dataset, aiming to assign an age estimate to portions of the contemporary road network based on the age of built-up areas in proximity to the roads. This method is described in Burghardt & Uhl, et al. (2022).

There are different levels of spatial reference units at which (historical) road network statistics are extracted:

• For each core-based statistical area (i.e., metropolitan areas + micropolitan areas), per time period: ./CBSA_statistics/stats_cbsa.py.
• For each county, per time period: ./county_stats/.
• For each contiguous patch of built-up area within a CBSA, per time period: ./CBSA_statistics/stats_patch.py.
• For each 1kmx1km grid cell, within CBSA boundaries: road_network_stats_gridded.py.

The script ./CBSA_statistics/stats_cbsa.py requires Historical, generalized built-up areas in U.S. core-based statistical areas (1900 - 2015), which can be reproduced with the script model_historical_roadnetwork_cbsa.py.

All code written by Keith Burghardt and Johannes H. Uhl.

Example of the road network statistics + settlement age within 1kmx1km grid cells, shown for the Greater Denver area (Colorado):

References:

Burghardt, K., Uhl, J. H., Lerman, K., & Leyk, S. (2022). Road network evolution in the urban and rural United States since 1900. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 95, 101803. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2022.101803

Leyk, S., & Uhl, J. H. (2018). HISDAC-US, historical settlement data compilation for the conterminous United States over 200 years. Scientific data, 5(1), 1-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.175

Uhl, J. H., Leyk, S., McShane, C. M., Braswell, A. E., Connor, D. S., & Balk, D. (2021). Fine-grained, spatiotemporal datasets measuring 200 years of land development in the United States. Earth system science data, 13(1), 119-153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-119-2021