Title
Analyzing the Semantics of Point Spaces through the Topological Weighted Centroid and Other Mathematical Quantities: The Hidden Geometry of the Global Economic Order
Abstract
AbstractFor many spatial processes, there is a natural need to find out the point of origin on the basis of the available scatter of observations; think, for instance, of finding out the home base of a criminal given the actual distribution of crime scenes, or the outbreak source of an epidemics. In this article, we build on the topological weighted centroid TWC methodology that has been applied in previous research to the reconstruction of space syntax problems, for example, of problems where all relevant entities are of spatial nature so that the relationships between them are inherently spatial and need to be properly reconstructed. In this article, we take this methodology to a new standard by tackling the new and challenging task of analyzing space semantics problems, where entities are characterized by properties of a nonspatial nature and must therefore be properly spatialized. We apply the space semantics version of the TWC methodology to a particularly hard problem: the reconstruction of global political and economic relationships on the basis of a small-dimensional qualitative dataset. The combination of a small set of spatial and nonspatial sources of information allows us to elucidate some intriguing and counterintuitive properties of the inherent global economic order and, in particular, to highlight its long-term structural features, which interestingly point toward the idea of longue durée developed by the distinguished French historian Fernand Braudel.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1111/coin.12040
Periodicals
Keywords
Field
DocType
topological weighted centroid,artificial neural networks,auto-CM,location theory,clash of civilizations,colonial trade routes
Data mining,Crime scene,Computer science,Artificial intelligence,Artificial neural network,Small set,Topology,Counterintuitive,Location theory,Space syntax,Machine learning,Centroid,Semantics
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
31
3
0824-7935
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
1
0.41
2
Authors
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Massimo Buscema1999.55
Pier Luigi Sacco262.65
Guido Ferilli311.09
Marco Breda471.33
Enzo Grossi5646.56