Spatial analysis for patterns 139Figure 6.1Nature, food, and water as overlapping concepts and interacting spaces
on land. Forest, crop fields, and a 20 hectare (50 acre) dammed reservoir are linked
byflows and movements of energy, water- and air-borne materials, animals, and
people. Tennessee, USA. Photo courtesy of US Department of Agriculture.Still, lots of possible approaches exist. Perhaps directly measuring the diverse
parameters of natural systems and human uses in all urban regions using con-
sistent, rigorous methods would be optimal. Then multivariate statistics and
other detailed quantitative analytic methods could be used. Alas, I would get
old before the measurements were done. A second choice might be to directly
measure some parameters, and obtain dependable peer-reviewed data for the
rest. Unfortunately few such data exist, and at the current rate I would have to
sit around for centuries.
As suggested in the previous chapter, a different approach was used. The
best data I could find were located from articles, books, and maps, and addi-
tional information was absorbed from consultations with knowledgeable per-
sons. Data from computer searches were rarely included (due to the prevalence