Urban sprawl modelling: A methodological approach

The urban sprawl is usually associated with the idea of unsuitable development. It depends on numerous simultaneous processes which make it difficult to deal with. Its modelling appears to be an interesting means to understand it and to run simulations, according to different scenarios of urban development, for making planning decisions. The methodological approach presented here combines three steps. Each one corresponds to a model: the first step deals with the quantification of the sprawl (transition model), the second with its location (potential model), and the third one with its differentiation (cellular automata). These three steps are associated to a spatio-temporal database, using a grid to store the needed information within a GIS