THE APPLICATION OF THE ISOCHRONE METHOD TO STUDY THE BOUNDARIES OF THE OREL URBAN AGGLOMERATION

Abstract

Many researchers use the isochrone method for determining transport accessibility when determiningthe boundaries of urban agglomerations. It is especially often applied in the initial determination of the territory, withintra-agglomeration connections subsequently identified. The isochrons for the Orel urban agglomeration were constructed taking into account public and personal transport. The isochron limit was set at 1.5 hours. All constructions were carried out in the QGIS program on the basis of information on the Orel region road network when traveling in a personalcar and by public transport.The modeling was carried out in several ways: using methods of geoinformation analysis and processing in GIS«QGIS» and «GRASS GIS», manually according to the data of the open GIS «Yandex.Maps», according to the parametersof the route schedule of the Orel bus station. As a result, 4 map diagrams were obtained, according to which the analysisof spreading of isochrons and its urban settlements was performed. The transport accessibility of the Orel urban agglomeration covers more significant area by personal road transport not public (over 50% of the area of the Orel region in thefirst case and 4–6% in the second).Based on the results obtained, the preliminary structure of the Orel urban agglomeration is given. The core is thecity of Orel. The suburban area includes the urban-type settlements of Znamenka and Naryshkino. The inner peripheryincludes the small towns of Mtsensk and Bolkhov, the urban-type settlements of Kromy and Zmiyevka. The outer periphery includes the small towns of Novosil, Maloarkhangelsk, Dmitrovsk, as well as the urban-type settlements ofZalegoshch, Pokrovskoye, Glazunovka, Shablykino, Khotynets.The advantages and disadvantages of the considered methods are analyzed, and recommendations are given on theuse of the isochron method to determine the transport accessibility of an urban agglomeration.