Dear Colleagues,

Please find enclosed a call for abstracts in the special session  "Geographical Systems analysis with spatial simulation models" for the next ECTQG in Bari (Sept. 2015).
Best regards,

Clémentine Cottineau, Marion Le Texier & Romain Reuillon


ECTQG 2015 | Special (e-)session.
« Geographical systems analysis with spatial simulation models »

The increasing share of communications presented at the ECQTG conferences relating to simulation models (up to 30% during the last edition in 2013) acknowledges the relevance of such methodologies for geography and related disciplines (Benenson, Torrens, 2004; Lane et al., 2009; Heppenstall et al., 2012; Koch, Mandl, 2013; O'Sullivan, Perry, 2013; Brunsdon, Singleton, 2015; Thill, 2015). While the research agenda undertaken by the community is quite large, the specific interest of geographers towards the spatial organisation of objects and processes can become an opportunity to contribute to the spatial simulation methodology and epistemology, by paying specific attention to the effects of space in simulation models. This special session seeks to bring together researchers dealing with theoretical and technical ways to measure and handle the effects of geography in simulation models. 

In particular, we propose two issues to be covered by the session :
    1. "space matters" : running geographical models with more than 3 regions (or the possibility to revisit classical 2-locations models difficult to solve analytically (Fujita et al. 2001) through simulation).
    2. "simulation as a crutch" : running simulation models to renew with geographical problems (such as MAUP, scale effects, data collection biases, etc.)
    
The scope of expected contributions could therefore span across a large range of topics (economic development, environmental issues, health, housing, ageing, planning etc.) and goals (from theoretical to applied geographical science). We would be particularly interested in discussing papers :
    - exploring the effects of the initial spatial conditions on the outputs of the model ('place-based' versus general processes, MAUP, continuous versus discrete spatio-temporal frameworks, etc.)
    - handling interacting behaviours at various space and time levels 
    - comparing different modeling approaches to solve geographical problems
    - proposing generic methods to explore spatial simulation models and provide reproductible measures
    - reviewing epistemological questions related to the use of simulation models in geographical studies

References :
    Benenson, I. and Torrens, P.M. (2004), Geosimulation: Automata-Based Modelling of Urban Phenomena, John Wiley & Sons, London, UK.
    Brunsdon, C. and Singleton, A. (eds.), (2015). Geocomputation: A Practical Primer, Sage, London, UK.
    Fujita, M., Krugman, P. R., & Venables, A. J. (2001). The spatial economy: Cities, regions, and international trade. MIT press.
    Heppenstall, A. J., Crooks, A. T., See, L. M., & Batty, M. (Eds.). (2012). Agent-based models of geographical systems. Springer Science & Business Media.
    Koch, A. and Mandl, P. (Eds.). (2013). Modeling social phenomena in spatial context, Berlin, LIT.
    Lane, D. A., Pumain, D., van der Leeuw, S.E., West, G. (Ed.). (2009). Complexity perspectives in innovation and social change (Vol. 7). Springer Science & Business Media.
    O'Sullivan, D., & Perry, G. L. (2013). Spatial simulation: exploring pattern and process. John Wiley & Sons.
    Thill, J.-C. (Ed). (2015). Spatial Analysis and Location Modeling in Urban and Regional Systems, Springer, Advances in Geographic Information Science Series 

Important Dates:

Abstract submission: 3,000 characters and spaces max*: before March 31st 2015
(*figs and pictures included)
Notification: before April 26th 2015
Early bird registration : until Mai 25th 2015
Full registration : until July 1st 2015
Full paper submission (max 40,000 characters) : until July 18th 2015

Important : When submitting your abstract, you should refer to ECTQG 2015 guidelines provided here https://sites.google.com/site/ectqg2015/publishing_policy, please put [log in to unmask] in cc and mention explicitly your belonging to the session.

Organisers:
Clémentine Cottineau, University College London & UMR Géographie-Cités : [log in to unmask]
Marion Le Texier, European University Institute & UMR Géographie-Cités : [log in to unmask]
Romain Reuillon, UMR Géographie-Cités & Complex Systems Institute : [log in to unmask]