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Changing Neighborhoods—Neighborhoods ChangingA Framework for Spatially Explicit Agent-Based Models of Social SystemsUniversity of Auckland, New Zealand, d.osullivan{at}auckland.ac.nz The nature of urban neighborhoods, neighborhood effects, and the dynamics of residential segregation are important themes in contemporary sociological inquiry. Agent-based models of social systems have been widely applied in this context. However, both applied and model-based research in these areas suffer from weaknesses in underlying conceptualizations and representations of spatial context. Drawing on human geography and the sociospatial perspective in urban sociology, a framework that enables richer and more realistic representation of urban neighborhoods in agent-based simulation models is proposed and outlined. The framework relies on a graph representation of the spatial relations among spatial locations and can accommodate welldefined administrative zones, vague or ill-defined neighborhoods, hierarchically nested spatial zoning systems, overlapping neighborhoods, and changing relations among neighborhoods. Results from a preliminary application of the framework demonstrate its utility and possibilities for research into the effects of neighborhood structure on social processes.
Key Words: neighbourhoods • segregation • agent-based models • residential location
Sociological Methods & Research, Vol. 37, No. 4,
498-530 (2009) |
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