Exploratory modeling of a spatial tessellation by a set of other spatial tessellations

Exploratory modeling of a spatial tessellation by a set of other spatial tessellations Spatial tessellation is one of the most important spatial structure in geography. There are various types of spatial tessellations such as administrative units, school districts, census tracts, and so forth. Spatial tessellations are often closely related to each other; school districts are determined by, say, administrative units and land uses; electoral districts are based on administrative units, local communities, census tracts, and so forth. Such relationships among spatial tessellations have drawn attention of geographers; why and how are they formed? To answer this question, this paper proposes three methods for modeling a spatial tessellation by a set of other tessellations: the region-based method, boundary-based method, and hybrid method. They are all designed for exploratory spatial analysis rather than confirmatory analysis. The methods are evaluated through an empirical study, analysis of the administrative system in Ponneri, India, in the late eighteenth century. 1