Spatial analysis is any of the formal techniques which study entities
using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties, primarily used
in urban design. Spatial analysis includes a variety of techniques using
different analytic approaches, especially spatial statistics. It may be
applied in fields as diverse as astronomy, with its studies of the placement
of galaxies in the cosmos, or to chip fabrication engineering, with its use of
"place and route" algorithms to build complex wiring structures. In a more
restricted sense, spatial analysis is geospatial analysis , the technique
applied to structures at the human scale, most notably in the analysis of
geographic data.