PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2012, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (6): 761-767.doi: 10.11820/dlkxjz.2012.06.012

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Application of Multi-agent System in Simulation of Urban Development: A Review

CHENWei1,2,3, GAO Xiaolu1,2, SHEN Zhenjiang4   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, CAS, Beijing 100101, China;

    2. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China;

    3. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;

    4. School of Environment Design, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan
  • Received:2011-11-01 Revised:2012-01-01 Online:2012-06-25 Published:2012-06-25

Abstract: The multi-agent system (MAS) is a loose network composed of mass Agents, each agent communicates and cooperates with each other based on its own properties and behavior rules. MAS studies the macro regularity of the whole system through simulating and observing a large number of agents’micro behaviors. The evolution of complex system mechanism has developed to a more reasonable and more accurate extent, therefore, MAS has a large application prospect in urban development simulation. This paper introduced the basic framework of multi-agent system, reviewed present research progress of the application of MAS theory, and analyze the five key topics of MAS in urban development simulation: acquisition of micro individual data, selection of agents, extraction and set of behavior rules, expression of interactions between agents, extraction and import of environment variables. Research shows that the prediction and evaluation of urban development policy is the key breakthrough in the application of MAS.

Key words: micro simulation, multi-agent system, urban development