Land Use Simulation Models

This chapter presents a review of the literature on land use models structured according to disaggregation of space, time and decision-makers and representing the process of land use mosaic and change. Geographical models relate land use to the properties of the land supply, its suitability for different types of use and its location. Economic models assume that land use is determined by the demand for land, influenced by a system of preferences, motivations, markets, accessibility, and population. Agronomic models do not include spatial interaction and have as a fundamental reference each plot of soil, apt to different types of culture, conditioned both by the markets and by the aptitudes of each territory unit to a certain type of culture. Spatial interaction models focus mainly the movement of flows across space constrained by the attrition of distance between origins and destinations. Finally, integrated models, join spatial interaction with land use explicitly including human behaviour in the decision-making processes and diversified land properties.