New forms of representation at a fine spatial scale, in which units of space are conceived as cells and populations as individual agents, are currently changing the way we are able to simulate the evolution of cities. In this paper I show how these new approaches are consistent with traditional urban models that have gone before, with the emphasis no longer being on spatial interaction but on development dynamics and local movement. I first introduce ideas about urban simulation based on spatial evolution as reaction and diffusion, showing how problems conceived in terms of cells and/or agents enable new implementations of this generic model. I sketch the rudiments of cellular automata which emphasise rules for development transition, and agent-based models which focus on how individuals respond to environmental attributes encoded in cellular landscapes. I illustrate these exemplars through models of residential location. Three applications are then presented at very different spatial scales: pedestrian movement at the building scale, the evolution of systems of cities at a regional scale, and urban growth at the city scale. I conclude with proposals that formal policy analysis in this domain should always be informed by more than one approach.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlbinP, 1975The Analysis of Complex Socio-economic Systems (Lexington Books, Lexington, MA).
2.
AlonsoW, 1964Location and Land Use: Toward a General Theory of Land Rent (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA).
3.
BattyM, 1971, “Modelling cities as dynamic systems”Nature231425–428.
4.
BattyM, 1976Urban Modelling: Algorithms, Calibration, Predictions (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
BattyMXieYSunZ, 1999, “Modeling urban dynamics through GIS-based cellular automata”Computers, Environments and Urban Systems23205–233.
7.
BattyMDesyllasJDuxburyE, 2003, “Safety in numbers? Modelling crowds and designing control for the Notting Hill Carnival”Urban Studies401573–1590.
8.
BerryBJL, 1964, “Cities as systems within systems of cities”Papers and Proceedings of the Regional Science Association13147–163.
9.
BorgersATimmermansH, 1986, “A model of pedestrian route choice and demand for retail facilities within inner-city shopping areas”Geographical Analysis18115–128.
10.
CamazineSDeneubourgJ-LFranksN RSneydJTheraulazGBonabeauE, 2001Self-organization in Biological Systems (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ).
11.
ClarkeK CHoppenSGaydosL, 1997, “A self-modifying cellular automaton model of historical urbanization in the San Francisco Bay area”Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design24247–261.
12.
CouclelisH, 1985, “Cellular worlds: A Framework for modeling micro–macro dynamics”Environment and Planning A17585–596.
13.
EpsteinJ MAxtellR, 1996Growing Artificial Societies: Social Science from the Bottom Up (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).
GardnerM, 1970, “The fantastic combinations of John Conway's new solitary game of ‘Life’”Scientific American223120–123.
16.
HaklayMThurstain-GoodwinMO'SullivanDSchelhornT, 2001, “‘So go downtown’: Simulating pedestrian movement in town centres”Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design28343–359.
17.
HansenW G, 1959, “How accessibility shapes land use”Journal of the American Institute of Planners2573–76.
18.
HelbingDFarkasIVicsekT, 2000, “Simulating dynamical features of escape panic”Nature407487–490.
19.
HelbingDMolnarPFarkasI JBolayK, 2001, “Self-organizing pedestrian movement”Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design28361–383.
LiXYehAG-O, 2000, “Modelling sustainable urban development by the integration of constrained cellular automata and GIS”International Journal of Geographic Information Science14131–152.
22.
LowryI S, 1964Model of Metropolis RM-4035-RC, Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, CA.
23.
ManrubiaS CZanetteD H, 1998, “Intermittency model for urban development”Physical Review E58295–302.
24.
NiemeyerLPietroneroLWiesmannH J, 1984, “Fractal dimension of dielectric breakdown”Physical Review Letters521033–1036.
25.
ParkerD CMansonS MJanssenM AHoffmanM JDeadmanP, 2003, “Multi-agent systems for the simulation of land-use and land-cover change: A Review”Annals of the Association of American Geographers93314–337.
26.
PortugaliJ, 2000Self-organization and the City (Springer, Berlin).
27.
PoundstoneW, 1985The Recursive Universe (William Morrow, New York).
28.
SandersLPumainDMathianHGuerin-PaceFBuraS, 1997, “SIMPOP: A Multiagent system for the study of urbanism”Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design24287–305.
29.
SchellingT C, 1978Micromotives and Macrobehavior (W W Norton, New York).
30.
SchreckenbergMSharmaS D (Eds), 2002Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics (Springer, Berlin).
31.
SchweitzerF, 2003Brownian Agents and Active Particles: Collective Dynamics in the Natural and Social Sciences (Springer, Berlin).
32.
StanleyH EOstrowksyN (Eds), 1986On Growth and Form (Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht).
33.
StewartJ QWarntzW, 1958, “Physics of population distribution”Journal of Regional Science199–123.
34.
UAS, 1996, “Tate Gallery, Millbank: a study of the existing layout and new masterplan proposal”, Unit for Architectural Studies, Bartlett School, University College, London, London.
35.
WardD PMurrayA TPhinnS R, 2000, “A stochastically constrained cellular model of urban growth”Computers, Environment and Urban Systems24539–558.
36.
WegenerM, 1994, “Operational urban models: State of the art”Journal of the American Planning Association6017–30.
37.
WhiteR WEngelenG, 2000, “High-resolution integrated modelling of the spatial dynamics of urban and regional systems”Computers, Environments and Urban Systems24383–400.
38.
WilsonA G, 1970Entropy in Urban and Regional Modelling (Pion, London).
39.
WittenT ASanderL M, 1981, “Diffusion-limited aggregation: A Kinetic critical phenomena”Physical Review Letters471400–1403.
WuFMartinD, 2002, “Urban expansion simulation of Southeast England using population surface modelling and cellular automata”Environment and Planning A341855–1876.
42.
XieY, 1994Analytical Models and Algorithms for Cellular Urban Dynamics unpublished PhD dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.
