Fractal Studies of Urban Geography in the Past and Future

Fractal geometry has opened up broad prospects for urban geography, and a new discipline-fractal urban geography is taking shape. This paper treats of the progress of fractal research on cities and urban systems in three respects. First, the origin and development of fractal studies on urban geographical phenomena are narrated briefly, and the Western achievements in the scientific research of fractal cities are introduced and explained. Secondly, the headway of urban geo-fractal studies, especially on fractal systems of cities, made by Chinese geographical workers is expounded, and a comparison is made between the Western and Chinese related researches. Thirdly, the problems, perspectives, significance, and importance of the studies on urban geo-farctals are analysed and discussed, and a number of new tasks set probably in the future are pointed out in order to predict the main developing directions of fractal cities and systems of cities. It is predicated that a theoretical revolution will be certain to take place because of the introduction of fractal theory to urban geography.