Effects of agent heterogeneity in the presence of a land-market: A systematic test in an agent-based laboratory

 

Qingxu Huang^a, Dawn C. Parker^b, Shipeng Sun^c, Tatiana Filatova^d

^a Center for Human-Environment System Sustainability, State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai St., Beijing 100875, China;

^b Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada;

^c Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 325 Learning & Environmental Sciences, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, United States;

^d Centre for Studies of Technology and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Management and Governance (MB), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.

 

 

Abstract: Representing agent heterogeneity is one of the main reasons that agent-based models become increasingly popular in simulating the emergence of land-use, land-cover change and socioeconomic phenomena. However, the relationship between heterogeneous economic agents and the resultant landscape patterns and socioeconomic dynamics has not been systematically explored. In this paper, we present a stylized agent-based land market model, Land Use in eXurban Environments (LUXE), to study the effects of multidimensional agents’ heterogeneity on the spatial and socioeconomic patterns of urban land use change under various market representations. We examined two sources of agent heterogeneity: budget heterogeneity, which imposes constraints on the affordability of land, and preference heterogeneity, which determines location choice. The effects of the two dimensions of agents’ heterogeneity are systematically explored across different market representations by three experiments. Agents’ heterogeneity exhibits a complex interplay with various forms of market institutions as indicated by macro-measures (landscape metrics, segregation index, and socioeconomic metrics). In general, budget heterogeneity has pronounced effect on socioeconomic results, while preference heterogeneity is highly pertinent to spatial outcomes. The relationship between agent heterogeneity and macro-measures becomes more complex when more land market mechanisms are represented. In other words, appropriately simulating agent heterogeneity plays an important role in guaranteeing the fidelity of replicating empirical land use change process.

 

 

Keywords: Agent heterogeneity; Land market; Competitive bidding; Budget constraints; Agent-based modeling.

 

Published in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. 2013, 41: 188-203.