14. Spatial Joins Exercises

Here’s a reminder of some of the functions we have seen. Hint: they should be useful for the exercises!

  • sum(expression): aggregate to return a sum for a set of records

  • count(expression): aggregate to return the size of a set of records

  • ST_Area(geometry) returns the area of the polygons

  • ST_AsText(geometry) returns WKT text

  • ST_Contains(geometry A, geometry B) returns the true if geometry A contains geometry B

  • ST_Distance(geometry A, geometry B) returns the minimum distance between geometry A and geometry B

  • ST_DWithin(geometry A, geometry B, radius) returns the true if geometry A is radius distance or less from geometry B

  • ST_GeomFromText(text) returns geometry

  • ST_Intersects(geometry A, geometry B) returns the true if geometry A intersects geometry B

  • ST_Length(linestring) returns the length of the linestring

  • ST_Touches(geometry A, geometry B) returns the true if the boundary of geometry A touches geometry B

  • ST_Within(geometry A, geometry B) returns the true if geometry A is within geometry B

Also remember the tables we have available:

  • nyc_census_blocks

    • name, popn_total, boroname, geom

  • nyc_streets

    • name, type, geom

  • nyc_subway_stations

    • name, routes, geom

  • nyc_neighborhoods

    • name, boroname, geom

14.1. Exercises

  • What subway station is in ‘Little Italy’? What subway route is it on?

    SELECT s.name, s.routes
    FROM nyc_subway_stations AS s
    JOIN nyc_neighborhoods AS n
    ON ST_Contains(n.geom, s.geom)
    WHERE n.name = 'Little Italy';
    
       name    | routes
    -----------+--------
     Spring St | 6
    
  • What are all the neighborhoods served by the 6-train? (Hint: The routes column in the nyc_subway_stations table has values like ‘B,D,6,V’ and ‘C,6’)

    SELECT DISTINCT n.name, n.boroname
    FROM nyc_subway_stations AS s
    JOIN nyc_neighborhoods AS n
    ON ST_Contains(n.geom, s.geom)
    WHERE strpos(s.routes,'6') > 0;
    
            name        | boroname
    --------------------+-----------
     Midtown            | Manhattan
     Hunts Point        | The Bronx
     Gramercy           | Manhattan
     Little Italy       | Manhattan
     Financial District | Manhattan
     South Bronx        | The Bronx
     Yorkville          | Manhattan
     Murray Hill        | Manhattan
     Mott Haven         | The Bronx
     Upper East Side    | Manhattan
     Chinatown          | Manhattan
     East Harlem        | Manhattan
     Greenwich Village  | Manhattan
     Parkchester        | The Bronx
     Soundview          | The Bronx
    

    Note

    We used the DISTINCT keyword to remove duplicate values from our result set where there were more than one subway station in a neighborhood.

  • After 9/11, the ‘Battery Park’ neighborhood was off limits for several days. How many people had to be evacuated?

    SELECT Sum(popn_total)
    FROM nyc_neighborhoods AS n
    JOIN nyc_census_blocks AS c
    ON ST_Intersects(n.geom, c.geom)
    WHERE n.name = 'Battery Park';
    
    17153
    
  • What neighborhood has the highest population density (persons/km2)?

    SELECT
      n.name,
      Sum(c.popn_total) / (ST_Area(n.geom) / 1000000.0) AS popn_per_sqkm
    FROM nyc_census_blocks AS c
    JOIN nyc_neighborhoods AS n
    ON ST_Intersects(c.geom, n.geom)
    GROUP BY n.name, n.geom
    ORDER BY popn_per_sqkm DESC LIMIT 2;
    
          name       |  popn_per_sqkm
    -------------------+------------------
     North Sutton Area | 68435.13283772678
     East Village      | 50404.48341332535