SIMPOP, A Multi-Agents Model for the Urban Transition

International audienceIn order to simulate the genesis and evolution of a settlement system, it is necessary to formalize the process of spatial aggregation of population, the complexification of activities with urbanization and the hierarchization of settlements. Differential equations are too heavy tools for dealing with the multiple spatial interactions which generate and regulate the evolution of the settlements system. Cellular automata, in extended forms such as multi-agents systems, are more promising in this respect. They allow the simulation of a wide complexity of spatial interactions including mechanisms of cooperation and competition between settlements. Using that methodology, SIMPOP has been developed for modeling the transition from an agrarian settlement system to an hierarchical trade- and manufacturing-oriented urban system. Various hypotheses concerning this evolution have been simulated