Simulating the land-use impact of municipal planning policies and stakeholders' goals in a residential land development project in southern Alberta using an agent-based model.

摘要

The objective of this research is to study the influence of land development regulations and stakeholders' goals on land-use resources in Southern Alberta. An agent-based model was developed to simulate the decision-making process of the developer, the citizens, and the town authorities in the planning of a residential land development in Strathmore, Alberta. Information on the decision-making process was collected through publicly available documents and interviews with the stakeholders and was compiled in terms of their goals and the regulations influencing their decisions. Several land development scenarios were simulated over a ten year period. The model generates a land-use map showing the change in the environment based on the agents' goals and their decisions. The model results were validated by comparing them with actual published documents and assessment by the stakeholders. The results illustrate that the model could be a valuable tool to better understand the relationship between stakeholders' goals and regulations on land-use change.