Analysis of Spatial Networks From Bipartite Projections Using the R Backbone Package

Bipartite projections have become a common way to measure spatial networks. They are now used in many subfields of geography, and are among the most common ways to measure the world city network, where intercity links are inferred from firm co-location patterns. Bipartite projections are attractive because a network can be indirectly inferred from readily available data. However, spatial bipartite projections are difficult to analyze because the links in these networks are weighted, and larger weights do not necessarily indicate stronger or more important connections. Methods for extracting the backbone of bipartite projections offer a solution by using statistical models for identifying the links that have statistically significant weights. In this article, we introduce the open-source backbone R package, which implements several backbone models, and demonstrate its key features by using it to measure a world city network.