Centrally located yet close to nature: A prescriptive agent-based model for urban design
Authored by Francesco Orsi
Date Published: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2018.10.001
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Platforms:
NetLogo
Model Documentation:
ODD
Model Code URLs:
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Abstract
A common dilemma for planners is how to design urban settlements that
give people easy access to a center and nature. Difficulties arise
because each households access to such elements is a function of other
households' location and the set of potential arrangements is
constrained by the households' degree of acceptance of different density
levels. This paper suggests the ideal arrangement of built-up and green
areas may be identified by simulating in an agent-based model (ABM) the
interactions of virtual households that try to find the best residential
location based on their preferences towards distance from the center,
proximity to green space and density.
Simulations showed that the ABM can, iteration after iteration, develop
progressively better configurations and eventually get to an equilibrium
if households' locational choice is driven not only by the maximization
of individual utility, but also the preservation of the neighbors'
well-being. Model's outputs suggest that compact settlements with an
even distribution of green spaces offer the greatest benefits to their
inhabitants, and that larger green areas are to be preferred when the
population is less sensitive to density and/or the travel to the center
is faster along some directions. Application of a rent formation model
on the configurations generated by the ABM shows that these are
relatively equitable, as lower income households could afford at least
half of all locations. Future improvements can turn this model into a
suitable tool for designing new settlements, guiding the densification
of existing settlements or defining zoning regulations.
Tags
Simulation
Cooperation
GIS
Negotiation
Optimization
health
POPULATION DENSITY
Cellular-automata
Sprawl
Form
Green space
Urban geography
Compact city