Fractal dimension analysis of spatial distribution rationality of urban fire stations

Fire stations are critical urban public infrastructures, and their spatial distribution should align with the spatial patterns of urban buildings to ensure efficient service delivery. Evaluating the rationality of fire station distributions requires appropriate methods, yet conventional spatial analysis approaches rely on characteristic scales that fail to capture the scale-free nature of urban forms. This study employs fractal geometry to analyze the spatial distribution of urban fire stations in 15 Chinese cities, using point-of-interest (POI) data from Gaode Map and building footprint data from OpenStreetMap (OSM). The results demonstrate that both urban fire station networks and building footprints exhibit fractal properties. However, the fractal dimension of fire stations is consistently smaller than that of building footprints, indicating insufficient spatial coverage. Furthermore, the fractal dimension of large fire stations is generally lower than that of small fire stations, suggesting an imbalance in the hierarchical structure of fire station networks. Fractal geometry provides a novel and effective framework for comparing the spatial isomorphism between fire station networks and urban forms. But the fractal structure of fire stations in Chinese cities does not adequately match the fractal structure of buildings, with an insufficient number of small fire stations preventing the formation of robust fractal hierarchies. This study contributes to the development of fractal-based approaches to urban planning, providing new methods for optimizing fire station layouts in complex urban systems. • Both fire station networks and building footprints of Chinese cities bears fractal properties. • Fractal dimension can be used to evaluate spatial distribution and hierarchy of urban fire stations. • Fractal dimension of fire station distribution should match that of building distribution. • A consistency index is proposed to measure spatial distribution rationality of urban fire stations. • The insufficient number of small fire stations affects fractal networks of urban fire stations.