International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B7. Istanbul 2004 
analysis and the calculations indicate the fact that the most 
privileged area from an ecological point of view — an area with 
parks and lakes — is in the north, whereas the most 
underprivileged area is superposed on the densely constructed 
central area. 
3.2. The quality of constructed areas 
The quality of the urban environment is also given by the 
characteristics of man-made elements. Satellite images, even if 
they are of high resolution and large scale, do not allow the 
representation and evaluations but of some of these: the density 
of buildings, the road network. 
  
Figure 4. The great density of the residential buildings 
(over 8096) from Pipera district which is situated in a most 
favorable ecologic conditions zone (northern part of the city) 
reduces the urban environment quality in this area. 
- the density of buildings can be estimated (calculated) through 
the analysis of the satellite images taken by sensors of high 
resolutions. (Móller, 2003; Voorde Van de et al., 2004; Cetin & 
Musaoglu, 2004). The interpretation of the urban morphology 
and the spectral composition analysis of the elements that 
compose the urban tissue make it possible to determine the 
classes of density of constructed areas (on the basis of the 
radiometric environments of these homogeneous spaces) and to 
map the corresponding areas (Fahsi et al., 1996). Class 1 has a 
density of 0-35% (reduced density), class 2 has a medium 
density (35-65%) and class 3 has a density of 65-100 % (high 
density). 
It is known that the density of buildings and implicitly the 
density of the population influence the quality of life in the 
urban environment. The denser the buildings and the more 
numerous the population the more the pressure on the 
environment is higher and the discomfort in the urban 
environment increases (Figure 4). 
- the road network conditions the traffic on land (its fluency, 
intensity, distribution and structure) but also the degree of air 
pollution. On the IKONOS images we can clearly see the road 
network: the structures (from the general radial-concentric one 
of the entire city of Bucharest to the different structures specific 
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to the functional areas and to the areas of buildings), the 
connections between diverse structures that facilitate the flows 
in different directions inside and outside the city and also the 
critical points (discontinuities, variations of the transversal 
profile of the streets), the relations between the big traffic 
arteries and the zones of major public interest (the central area, 
residential areas, parks, cultural, commercial, sports centers). 
(Loghin, 2003) 
4. THE DELIMITATION OF AREAS IN SECTOR 1, 
BUCHAREST, ON THE BASIS OF THE QUALITY 
CRITERIA AND PARAMETERS THAT CAN BE 
EVALUATED THROUGH THE ANALYSIS OF HIGH 
RESOLUTION SATELLITE IMAGES 
By considering the criteria and by cumulating the parameters 
estimated through the analysis of IKONOS images it is possible 
to partially define the environmental quality criteria and to draw 
the limits between the areas that correspond to them. This 
opportunity has been demonstrated only for sector 1, Bucharest, 
an area characterized by a huge diversity of aspects. The urban 
environment qualitative criteria that were established are: very 
good (without industrial sources of pollution, with green areas 
of 35-40 m?/ inhabitant, reduced density of buildings: 0-35%), 
good (with industrial sources of pollution having a reduced 
impact, air pollution caused by traffic, green areas of 15-20 m/ 
inhabitant, density of buildings: 35-6596), middling (intense air 
pollution caused by traffic, green areas 5-10 m/ inhabitant, 
density of buildings: 65-100%), precarious (very intense 
pollution generated by the traffic, green areas of less than 5 m*/ 
inhabitant, associated or not with the density of buildings of 65- 
100%).(Figure 5). 
Urban Environment: 
VG - Very Good 
G - Good 
M - Middling 
P  -Precarious 
Figure 5. Determination of the environment quality categories 
in the first sector of Bucharest city based on IKONOS image 
interpretation 
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