Author: Andrew Crooks

Call for Papers: New Directions in Geospatial Simulation

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New Directions In Geospatial Simulation
The geospatial simulation community has enjoyed steady growth over the past decade as novel and advanced forms of agent-based and cellular automata modeling continue to facilitate the exploration of complex geographic problems facing the world today. It is now an opportune time to consider the future direction of this community and explore ways to leverage geospatial simulation in professional arenas. The aim of these sessions is to bring together researchers utilizing agent-based and cellular automata techniques and associated methodologies to discuss new directions in geospatial simulation. We invite papers that fall into one of the following four categories:
  • Graduate student geospatial simulation research
  • Methodological advances of agent-based or cellular automata modeling
  • New application frontiers in geospatial simulation
  • Approaches for evaluating the credibility of geospatial simulation models
Student papers will be presented in an interactive short paper session with presentations no longer than five minutes and no more than ten slides. Following presentations, students will form a panel that will address questions from the audience as directed by the session moderator. Student presentations will be judged as a part of a Best Student Paper award, the winner of which will receive an award of $500.
All other papers will be placed in one of the following three sessions: (1) Methodological Advances, (2) Novel Applications, or (3) Model Credibility. Each session will be comprised of four speakers followed by a twenty-minute discussion on the session topic.
Please e-mail the abstract and key words with your expression of intent to Chris Bone by October 28, 2014. Please make sure that your abstract conforms to the AAG guidelines in relation to title, word limit and key words and as specified at http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting/call_for_papers. An abstract should be no more than 250 words that describe the presentation’s purpose, methods, and conclusions as well as to include keywords. Full submissions will be given priority over submissions with just a paper title.
ORGANIZERS:
Chris Bone, Department of Geography, University of Oregon
Andrew Crooks, Department of Computational Social Science, George Mason University
Alison Heppenstall, School of Geography, University of Leeds
Arika Ligmann-Zielinska, Department of Geography, Michigan State University
David O’Sullivan, Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley
TIMELINE:
October 14th, 2014: Second call for papers
October 28th, 2014: Abstract submission and expression of intent to session organizers. E-mail Chris Bone by this date if you are interested in being in this session. Please submit an abstract and key words with your expression of intent. Full submissions will be given priority over submissions with just a paper title.
October 31st, 2014: Session finalization. Session organizers determine session order and content and notify authors.
November 3rd, 2014: Final abstract submission to AAG, via www.aag.org. All participants must register individually via this site. Upon registration you will be given a participant number (PIN). Send the PIN and a copy of your final abstract to Chris Bone. Neither the organizers nor the AAG will edit the abstracts.

November 5th, 2014: AAG registration deadline. Sessions submitted to AAG for approval.
April 21-25, 2014: AAG meeting, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

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AAG, ABM, CA, complexity, GIS

Call for Papers: New Directions in Geospatial Simulation

Posted on by
New Directions In Geospatial Simulation
The geospatial simulation community has enjoyed steady growth over the past decade as novel and advanced forms of agent-based and cellular automata modeling continue to facilitate the exploration of complex geographic problems facing the world today. It is now an opportune time to consider the future direction of this community and explore ways to leverage geospatial simulation in professional arenas. The aim of these sessions is to bring together researchers utilizing agent-based and cellular automata techniques and associated methodologies to discuss new directions in geospatial simulation. We invite papers that fall into one of the following four categories:
  • Graduate student geospatial simulation research
  • Methodological advances of agent-based or cellular automata modeling
  • New application frontiers in geospatial simulation
  • Approaches for evaluating the credibility of geospatial simulation models
Student papers will be presented in an interactive short paper session with presentations no longer than five minutes and no more than ten slides. Following presentations, students will form a panel that will address questions from the audience as directed by the session moderator. Student presentations will be judged as a part of a Best Student Paper award, the winner of which will receive an award of $500.
All other papers will be placed in one of the following three sessions: (1) Methodological Advances, (2) Novel Applications, or (3) Model Credibility. Each session will be comprised of four speakers followed by a twenty-minute discussion on the session topic.
Please e-mail the abstract and key words with your expression of intent to Chris Bone by October 28, 2014. Please make sure that your abstract conforms to the AAG guidelines in relation to title, word limit and key words and as specified at http://www.aag.org/cs/annualmeeting/call_for_papers. An abstract should be no more than 250 words that describe the presentation’s purpose, methods, and conclusions as well as to include keywords. Full submissions will be given priority over submissions with just a paper title.
ORGANIZERS:
Chris Bone, Department of Geography, University of Oregon
Andrew Crooks, Department of Computational Social Science, George Mason University
Alison Heppenstall, School of Geography, University of Leeds
Arika Ligmann-Zielinska, Department of Geography, Michigan State University
David O’Sullivan, Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley
TIMELINE:
October 14th, 2014: Second call for papers
October 28th, 2014: Abstract submission and expression of intent to session organizers. E-mail Chris Bone by this date if you are interested in being in this session. Please submit an abstract and key words with your expression of intent. Full submissions will be given priority over submissions with just a paper title.
October 31st, 2014: Session finalization. Session organizers determine session order and content and notify authors.
November 3rd, 2014: Final abstract submission to AAG, via www.aag.org. All participants must register individually via this site. Upon registration you will be given a participant number (PIN). Send the PIN and a copy of your final abstract to Chris Bone. Neither the organizers nor the AAG will edit the abstracts.

November 5th, 2014: AAG registration deadline. Sessions submitted to AAG for approval.
April 21-25, 2014: AAG meeting, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

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AAG, ABM, CA, complexity, GIS

Herding Sheep

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http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28936251
Have you ever wondered how a farmer and a single sheep dog can herd sheep? A recent paper in Journal of the Royal Society Interface explains just how. Using GPS data from collars researchers have developed a computational model which  “reproduces key features of empirical data collected from sheep–dog interaction”. The model has two simple rules:

“The first rule: The sheepdog learns how to make the sheep come together in a flock. The second rule: Whenever the sheep are in a tightly knit group, the dog pushes them forwards.” (BBC)

The movie below (which accompanies the paper) shows some simulation runs with different numbers of agents. The shepherd (blue) approaches and rounds up the agents/sheep (black dots) and then proceed to herd the group toward the target.

Full Reference:

Strömbom. D. Mann, R. P., Wilson, A. M., Hailes, S., Morton, A. J., Sumpter, D. J. T., King, A. J. (2014) Solving the shepherding problem: Heuristics for herding autonomous, interacting agents. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11: 20140719.

Thanks to @Badnetworker for drawing my attention to this.

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Uncategorized

Herding Sheep

Posted on by
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28936251
Have you ever wondered how a farmer and a single sheep dog can herd sheep? A recent paper in Journal of the Royal Society Interface explains just how. Using GPS data from collars researchers have developed a computational model which  “reproduces key features of empirical data collected from sheep–dog interaction”. The model has two simple rules:

“The first rule: The sheepdog learns how to make the sheep come together in a flock. The second rule: Whenever the sheep are in a tightly knit group, the dog pushes them forwards.” (BBC)

The movie below (which accompanies the paper) shows some simulation runs with different numbers of agents. The shepherd (blue) approaches and rounds up the agents/sheep (black dots) and then proceed to herd the group toward the target.

Full Reference:

Strömbom. D. Mann, R. P., Wilson, A. M., Hailes, S., Morton, A. J., Sumpter, D. J. T., King, A. J. (2014) Solving the shepherding problem: Heuristics for herding autonomous, interacting agents. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11: 20140719.

Thanks to @Badnetworker for drawing my attention to this.

Continue reading »
Uncategorized

Special Sessions on GeoComputation @ NARSC

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–>

Second Call for participation
Special Sessions on GeoComputation
61st Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International NARSC – RSAI
November 12-15, 2014, Washington, DC, USA
The special sessions on various aspects of GeoComputation are planned for the North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (NARSC) to be held in Washington DC, USA, November 12-15, 2014. Suitable topics for the session presentations are theoretical, methodological and applied issues related to GeoComputation – spatial analysis and modeling, and in the context of regional science.
Please let us know if you are interested to contribute to the special session(s) by sending an email at <suzanad@sfu.ca> with the title, abstract, name of author(s), affiliations, contact details and the unique ID number at your earliest but not later than June 25th, 2014. The abstract should be 2,000 to 5,500 characters and spaces.
Please note that in order to have your presentation included to the special session we do need the unique identification number (ID). The ID, or PIN, is a number included at the bottom of the confirmation email received following the submission of an abstract.
Detailed information about the NARSC conference can be found at . Information about the submission process can be found at . Conference abstract submission deadline is July 1st, 2014.
Looking forward to seeing you in Washington, DC.
The organizers:
Prof. Suzana Dragićević
Department of Geography
Simon Fraser University, Canada
Email: suzanad@sfu.ca
Prof. Andrew Crooks
Department of Computational Social Science
George Mason University, USA
Email: acrooks2@gmu.edu
Prof. Jean-Claude Thill
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
Email: Jean-Claude.Thill@uncc.edu
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ABM, GeoComputation, GIS

Special Sessions on GeoComputation @ NARSC

Posted on by

–>

Second Call for participation
Special Sessions on GeoComputation
61st Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International NARSC – RSAI
November 12-15, 2014, Washington, DC, USA
The special sessions on various aspects of GeoComputation are planned for the North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (NARSC) to be held in Washington DC, USA, November 12-15, 2014. Suitable topics for the session presentations are theoretical, methodological and applied issues related to GeoComputation – spatial analysis and modeling, and in the context of regional science.
Please let us know if you are interested to contribute to the special session(s) by sending an email at <suzanad@sfu.ca> with the title, abstract, name of author(s), affiliations, contact details and the unique ID number at your earliest but not later than June 25th, 2014. The abstract should be 2,000 to 5,500 characters and spaces.
Please note that in order to have your presentation included to the special session we do need the unique identification number (ID). The ID, or PIN, is a number included at the bottom of the confirmation email received following the submission of an abstract.
Detailed information about the NARSC conference can be found at . Information about the submission process can be found at . Conference abstract submission deadline is July 1st, 2014.
Looking forward to seeing you in Washington, DC.
The organizers:
Prof. Suzana Dragićević
Department of Geography
Simon Fraser University, Canada
Email: suzanad@sfu.ca
Prof. Andrew Crooks
Department of Computational Social Science
George Mason University, USA
Email: acrooks2@gmu.edu
Prof. Jean-Claude Thill
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
Email: Jean-Claude.Thill@uncc.edu
Continue reading »
ABM, GeoComputation, GIS

Multi-Agent Systems for Urban Planning

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Recently we contributed a chapter to “Technologies for Urban and Spatial Planning: Virtual Cities and Territories” which aims to quote from the preference:  

“(i) to contribute to the dissemination of the recent research and development of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in urban and spatial planning, trying to demonstrate their usability in planning processes through the presentation of relevant case studies, framed by their underlying theory; (ii) to give additional evidence to the fact that ICT are the privileged means to produce virtual cities and territories; and (iii) to make available, from a pedagogical standpoint, a group of illustrative reviews of the scientific production made by both academics and practitioners in the field.”

The book has 11 chapters which are grouped in several themes:

“first group focuses on the discussion over the use of ICT in spatial planning; the second group of contributions deals with urban modelling and simulation; the third group focuses on the use of different sensors to acquire information and model spatial processes; the fourth group focuses on the use of data to create more capable visualization tools; and the fifth group is about the use of virtual models to simulate real environments and plan and manage other aspects of the built environment such as energy.”

Our chapter is entitled “Multi-agent Systems for Urban Planning” fits into the second group with respect to urban modeling and simulation. We present a detailed overview about the theory and the development of multi-agent systems (MAS) in spatial planning, focusing on how MAS can lead to insights into urban problems and aid urban planning fostering a bottom up approach to spatial planning. The abstract is as follows:
Cities provide homes for over half of the world’s population, and this proportion is expected to increase throughout the next century. The growth of cities raises many questions and challenges for urban planning including which cities and regions are most likely to grow, what the pattern of urban growth will be, and how the existing infrastructure will cope with such growth. One way to explore these types of questions is through the use of multi-agent systems (MAS) that are capable of modeling how individuals interact and how structures emerge through such interactions, in terms of both the social and physical environment of cities. Within this chapter, the authors focus on how MAS can lead to insights into urban problems and aid urban planning from the bottom up. They review MAS models that explore the growth of cities and regions, models that explore land-use patterns resulting from such growth along with the rise of slums. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate how MAS models can be used to model transportation and the changing demographics of cities. Through these examples the authors also demonstrate how this style of modeling can give insights into such issues that cannot be gleamed from other modeling methodologies. The chapter concludes with challenges and future research directions of MAS models with respect to capturing the dynamics of human behavior in urban planning.

Full Reference:

Crooks, A.T., Patel, A. and Wise, S. (2014), Multi-agent Systems for Urban Planning, in Pinto, N.N., Tenedório, J. Antunes A. P. and Roca, J. (eds.), Technologies for Urban and Spatial Planning: Virtual Cities and Territories, IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp. 29-56. (pdf)

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ABM, complexity, GIS, Multi-agent Systems

Multi-Agent Systems for Urban Planning

Posted on by
Recently we contributed a chapter to “Technologies for Urban and Spatial Planning: Virtual Cities and Territories” which aims to quote from the preference:  

“(i) to contribute to the dissemination of the recent research and development of the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in urban and spatial planning, trying to demonstrate their usability in planning processes through the presentation of relevant case studies, framed by their underlying theory; (ii) to give additional evidence to the fact that ICT are the privileged means to produce virtual cities and territories; and (iii) to make available, from a pedagogical standpoint, a group of illustrative reviews of the scientific production made by both academics and practitioners in the field.”

The book has 11 chapters which are grouped in several themes:

“first group focuses on the discussion over the use of ICT in spatial planning; the second group of contributions deals with urban modelling and simulation; the third group focuses on the use of different sensors to acquire information and model spatial processes; the fourth group focuses on the use of data to create more capable visualization tools; and the fifth group is about the use of virtual models to simulate real environments and plan and manage other aspects of the built environment such as energy.”

Our chapter is entitled “Multi-agent Systems for Urban Planning” fits into the second group with respect to urban modeling and simulation. We present a detailed overview about the theory and the development of multi-agent systems (MAS) in spatial planning, focusing on how MAS can lead to insights into urban problems and aid urban planning fostering a bottom up approach to spatial planning. The abstract is as follows:
Cities provide homes for over half of the world’s population, and this proportion is expected to increase throughout the next century. The growth of cities raises many questions and challenges for urban planning including which cities and regions are most likely to grow, what the pattern of urban growth will be, and how the existing infrastructure will cope with such growth. One way to explore these types of questions is through the use of multi-agent systems (MAS) that are capable of modeling how individuals interact and how structures emerge through such interactions, in terms of both the social and physical environment of cities. Within this chapter, the authors focus on how MAS can lead to insights into urban problems and aid urban planning from the bottom up. They review MAS models that explore the growth of cities and regions, models that explore land-use patterns resulting from such growth along with the rise of slums. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate how MAS models can be used to model transportation and the changing demographics of cities. Through these examples the authors also demonstrate how this style of modeling can give insights into such issues that cannot be gleamed from other modeling methodologies. The chapter concludes with challenges and future research directions of MAS models with respect to capturing the dynamics of human behavior in urban planning.

Full Reference:

Crooks, A.T., Patel, A. and Wise, S. (2014), Multi-agent Systems for Urban Planning, in Pinto, N.N., Tenedório, J. Antunes A. P. and Roca, J. (eds.), Technologies for Urban and Spatial Planning: Virtual Cities and Territories, IGI Global, Hershey, PA, pp. 29-56. (pdf)

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ABM, complexity, GIS, Multi-agent Systems

AAG 2014: Geosimulation Models Sessions

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If you going to this years AAG, you might be interested in our Geosimulation Models sessions which will take place on Wednesday the 9th of April from 10am.

Session Description: Since the publication of Geosimulation in 2004, the use of Agent-based Modeling (ABM) and Cellular Automata (CA) under the umbrella of Geosimulation models within geographical systems have started to mature as methodologies to explore a wide range of geographical and more broadly social sciences problems facing society. The aim of these sessions is to bring together researchers utilizing geosimulation techniques (and associated methodologies) to discuss topics relating to: theory, technical issues and applications domains of ABM and CA within geographical systems.

10:00 AM to 11:40,  Room 39, TCC, Fourth Floor , Chair: Suzana Dragicevic
12.40PM to 2.20PM, Room 39, TCC, Fourth Floor, Chair: Paul Torrens
2:40 PM to 4:20 PM in Room 39, TCC, Fourth Floor, Chair: Paul Torrens
Siyu Fan and Yichun Xie

We would also like to thank the following AAG specialty groups for sponsoring our sessions: Spatial Analysis and Modeling Specialty Group,  Cyberinfrastructure Specialty Group and the Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group  
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AAG, ABM, Geosimulation, GIS

AAG 2014: Geosimulation Models Sessions

Posted on by

If you going to this years AAG, you might be interested in our Geosimulation Models sessions which will take place on Wednesday the 9th of April from 10am.

Session Description: Since the publication of Geosimulation in 2004, the use of Agent-based Modeling (ABM) and Cellular Automata (CA) under the umbrella of Geosimulation models within geographical systems have started to mature as methodologies to explore a wide range of geographical and more broadly social sciences problems facing society. The aim of these sessions is to bring together researchers utilizing geosimulation techniques (and associated methodologies) to discuss topics relating to: theory, technical issues and applications domains of ABM and CA within geographical systems.

10:00 AM to 11:40,  Room 39, TCC, Fourth Floor , Chair: Suzana Dragicevic
12.40PM to 2.20PM, Room 39, TCC, Fourth Floor, Chair: Paul Torrens
2:40 PM to 4:20 PM in Room 39, TCC, Fourth Floor, Chair: Paul Torrens
Siyu Fan and Yichun Xie

We would also like to thank the following AAG specialty groups for sponsoring our sessions: Spatial Analysis and Modeling Specialty Group,  Cyberinfrastructure Specialty Group and the Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group  
Continue reading »
AAG, ABM, Geosimulation, GIS
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