Introduction
- Cities are global centres of prosperity and wealth creation; they are also areas of mass deprivation, crime, pollution and congestion. Their problems occupy geographers, historians, sociologists, economists and anthropologists. In order to analyse these problems, but also to plan features of cities in the future, the WUNGrid Project aims to produce city simulation tools which reproduce key aspects of real urban environments.
- This work requires the integration of data from many sources, including satellite and land use data, census demographics, economic and business activities, and data relating to transport and migration. In addition, the development of appropriate real-world simulations requires a computational intensity several orders of magnitude greater than contemporary (2005) gaming equivalents.
- In practice, cities cannot be detached from the regional hinterlands on which they depend. Indeed, there is an important set of questions about balanced growth within and between regions. Members of the WUNgrid have a commitment to the provision of spatial decision-support tools for planners in both urban and regional environments, and also particular interests in policy analysis using demographic and social information about individuals which is not only precious but also sensitive and confidential.
- It is thought that international collaboration and resource sharing are vital for the success of this work.
- For the latest on this work, please follow the links on this page.
