2005/10/31 by Vamsi Kalapala, Vishal Sanwalani, Aaron Clauset +1
Computer Science · Engineering · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Data Management and Algorithms #Urban Design and Spatial Analysis #Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation #physics.data-an #physics.soc-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.73.026130
published as Phys. Rev. E 73, 026130 (2006) · 6 pages, 10 figures; revision incorporates more rigorous statistical analyses; matches journal version
openalex publication_date 2006/02/27 · arxiv created 2006/03/08 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the topological and geographic structure of the national road networks of the United States, England, and Denmark. By transforming these networks into their dual representation, where roads are vertices and an edge connects two vertices if the corresponding roads ever intersect, we show that they exhibit both topological and geographic scale invariance. That is, we show that for sufficiently large geographic areas, the dual degree distribution follows a power law with exponent 2.2< or = alpha < or =2.4, and that journeys, regardless of their length, have a largely identical structure. To explain these properties, we introduce and analyze a simple fractal model of road placement that reproduces the observed structure, and suggests a testable connection between the scaling exponent and the fractal dimensions governing the placement of roads and intersections.