A Novel Approach to Assess the Distance Between the Settlement Patterns of Two Populations

ABSTRACT Understanding settlement patterns and their spatial distribution is essential for various fields, including geography, demography, and sociology. This paper explores a novel approach to assess the distance between settlement patterns of two populations with a specific focus on territorial variation inequalities. Building upon the conceptual framework of the Lorenz curve, we introduce new indices and graphical representations that permit us to emphasize territorial differences in settlement between two populations. By emphasizing the distance between settlement patterns, this methodology captures variations and inequalities in territorial distribution. Rather than simply characterizing settlement patterns as concentrated or dispersed, this approach considers the extent to which populations are spatially separated or integrated. To test this new approach, three foreign reference communities were examined (Egyptians, Chinese, and Romanians) known in the literature for their markedly different settlement patterns in Italy. We identified three different patterns for these populations that highlight the importance of considering local variations and spatial interactions in the study of settlement patterns. The results obtained seem to agree with the theory of settlements of foreign populations in Italy, albeit with additional geographical information. Through this research, we aim to provide a new methodology for measuring the distance between the settlement patterns of two different populations, filling some gaps in traditional methods.