| Abstract | We present and evaluate an agent based model (ABM) of land use change at the rural-urban fringe,comparing its performance to a mathematical model of the same process. Our simplified model was developed
in Swarm using agents with heterogeneous preferences and a landscape with heterogeneous properties. The
context of this work is a larger project that includes surveys of the preferences of residents and data on historical
patterns of development. Our broader goal is to use the model to evaluate the ecological effects of alternative
policies and designs. We begin by evaluating the influence of a greenbelt, which is located next to a developing
area and in which no development is permitted. We present results of a mathematical model that illustrates the
necessary trade-off between greenbelt placement and greenbelt width on its effectiveness at delaying develop-
ment beyond. Experiments run with the ABM are validated by the mathematical model and illustrate analyses
that can be performed by extending to two-dimensions, variable agent preferences, and multiple, and ultimately
realistic, patterns of landscape variability.
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