GIScience

Special Session(s): Modeling Geographic Complexity.

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DESCRIPTION:

Understanding geographical systems represents one of the greatest challenges of our time. Complexity has emerged as a useful paradigm to effectively study linked human, socioeconomic and biophysical systems at a variety of different spatial and temporal scales. As a result, descriptive and predictive models of various levels of sophistication and using mostly agents, genetic algorithms, cellular automata and neural networks are now beginning to regularly appear in the geographic literature. However, there still remains many unresolved conceptual, technical and application challenges associated with these complexity based models. The goal of this session is to focus on the following themes:

1. Conceptual: shared and unique complexity signatures in geographic systems; existing and emerging geographical and complexity theories; epistemological and ontological influences; complexity based model designs; networks and hybrid models; linking classical and spatial statistics in complexity studies.

2. Technical: space-time patterns and dynamics; standardizing the development and representation of complex systems; rule selection and implementation; multiple-scale interactions and structure, system evolution and self-organization; learning and adaptation; calibration, validation and verification; path-dependence; non-linearity.

3. Applications: effectiveness of complexity models when embedded in political, institutional and socio-economic systems; human-environment interactions; earth systems science; land use science; landscape ecology; sustainability analysis.

In order to widely disseminate the ideas emerging from this session, the organizers of the session are exploring the possibility for a special issue of a journal and /or an edited book so that authors will have the opportunity to suitably revise their presentations for publication. Priority will be given for work that has not been published, in review or in press.

Please e-mail the abstract and key words with your expression of intent to Andrew Crooks <acrooks2@gmu.edu> by October 19^th, 2009.

We have uploaded the presentations from the “Enhancing Complex Social Simulations with Automata Systems” held at the 2009 RGS Annual Conference. This session aimed to bring together researchers to report on progress in diverse types of automata systems in social simulation.

Session 1

Title: MEME: An Integrated Tool For Advanced Computational Experiments
Author(s): Rajmund Bocsi (AITIA International Inc) Gabor Ferschl (AITIA International Inc) László Gulyás (AITIA International Inc / Loránd Eötvös University) Attila Szabó (AITIA International Inc / Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary)
Presenter: László Gulyás (Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary)

Title: Creating an Agent-Based Model of Consumer Behaviour
Author(s): Alison Heppenstall (University of Leeds) and Kirk Harland (University of Leeds)
Presenter: Kirk Harland (University of Leeds)

Title: An agent-based framework for modelling social activities and travel
Author(s): Nicole Ronald (Einhoven University of Technology, Holland), Theo Arentze (Einhoven University of Technology, Holland), Harry Timmermans (Eindhoven University of Technology, Holland)
Presenter: Nicole Ronald (Eindhoven University of Technology, Holland)

Title: Impacts of Network Topology on Tax Evasion in a Complex Artificial Social System
Author(s): Attila Szabó (AITIA International Inc / Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary), László Gulyás (AITIA International Inc / Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary), István János Tóth (Hungarian Chamber of Commerce)
Presenter: Atilla Szabo (AITIA International Inc / Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary)

Title:Agent-based simulation of the spatial evolution of the historical population in China
Author(s): Jing Wu (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Zheng Wang (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Presenter: Jing Wu (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Session 2

Title: Modelling the role of neighbourhood support in regional climate change adaptation
Author(s): Friedrich Krebs (University of Kassel, Germany), Sascha Holzhauer (University of Kassel, Germany) and Andreas Ernst (University of Kassel, Germany)
Presenter: Friedrich Krebs (University of Kassel, Germany)

Title: Validation of an Agent-based Model of Shifting Agriculture
Author(s): The An Ngo (University of Leeds), Linda See (University of Leeds), Frances Drake (University of Leeds)
Presenter: The An Ngo (University of Leeds)

Title: Cellular automata with non-linear transition rules for simulating land cover change
Author(s): Katarzyna Ostapowicz (Jagiellonian University, Poland)
Presenter: Katarzyna Ostapowicz (Jagiellonian University, Poland)

Title: Waves of Change – Modelling the Nicobars in the after-math of the 2004 Tsunami and beyond
Author(s): Martin Wildenberg (University of Klagenfurt, Austria)Simron Singh (University of Klagenfurt, Austria)
Presenter: Martin Wildenberg ( University of Klagenfurt, Austria)