Modelling the Road Network as an Expression of Historical Spatial System Change in the Klaipeda Region (Lithuania)

Thomas Gloaguen, Thomas Gloaguen, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Sébastien Gadal

2025

Abstract

Since the 20th century, the Klaipėda region (Lithuania) has undergone significant political, economic, social, and cultural changes related to the disappearance of Prussia (1923), the Soviet occupation (1944) and the restoration of independence (1991). This has led to radical transformations in the spatial system, of which the road network is a key component. Networks could be analysed using space syntax methods by assimilating them to a mathematical graph model, for which quantitative indexes based on topology can be applied to assess their spatial configurations. The ‘Generic City’ approach, by simulating foreground and background urban networks, can be modified innovatively on a territorial scale. Based on historical cartographies and open geographic databases, indexes characterising both networks are derived to describe the length, angularity or accessibility of the pre-Soviet, Soviet and post-Soviet networks. The analysis identified four main spatial structures associated with the network by combining the indexes in a K-means machine learning algorithm. They highlight the spatial impacts of collectivisation, industrialisation, and tertiarisation of the economy, post-World Wars and post-Cold War geopolitical events, and their consequences as drivers of the territorial organisation and dynamics such as the metropolisation or peri-urbanisation.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Gloaguen T., Zaleckis K. and Gadal S. (2025). Modelling the Road Network as an Expression of Historical Spatial System Change in the Klaipeda Region (Lithuania). In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Geographical Information Systems Theory, Applications and Management - Volume 1: GISTAM; ISBN 978-989-758-741-2, SciTePress, pages 61-72. DOI: 10.5220/0013249600003935

in Bibtex Style

@conference{gistam25,
author={Thomas Gloaguen and Kęstutis Zaleckis and Sébastien Gadal},
title={Modelling the Road Network as an Expression of Historical Spatial System Change in the Klaipeda Region (Lithuania)},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Geographical Information Systems Theory, Applications and Management - Volume 1: GISTAM},
year={2025},
pages={61-72},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013249600003935},
isbn={978-989-758-741-2},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Geographical Information Systems Theory, Applications and Management - Volume 1: GISTAM
TI - Modelling the Road Network as an Expression of Historical Spatial System Change in the Klaipeda Region (Lithuania)
SN - 978-989-758-741-2
AU - Gloaguen T.
AU - Zaleckis K.
AU - Gadal S.
PY - 2025
SP - 61
EP - 72
DO - 10.5220/0013249600003935
PB - SciTePress