Statistical validation of spatial patterns in agent-based models

TitleStatistical validation of spatial patterns in agent-based models
Publication TypeJournal Articles
Year of Publication2003
AuthorsRand W, Brown DG, Page SE, Riolo R, Fernandez LE, Zellner M
JournalProceedings of Agent Based Simulation
Volume4
Date Published2003///
Abstract

We present and evaluate an agent-based model(ABM) of land use change at the rural-urban fringe.
This paper is part of a project that links the ABM
to surveys of residential preferences and historical
patterns of development. Validation is an important
issue for such models and we discuss the use of
distributional phenomena as a method of validation.
We then highlight the ability of our ABM to gen-
erate two phenomena evident in empirical analysis
of urban development patterns: a power law rela-
tionship between frequency and cluster size and a
negative exponential relationship between density
and distance from city center. We discuss these
results in the light of validation of ABMs.