Exploring a spatio-dynamic neighbourhood-based model of residential behaviour in the Brussels periurban area

This article proposes a methodology for the construction and the calibration of a micro-economic urban land-use model within an extended Cellular Automata (CA) framework. The methodology is applied to processes of residential spread in a part of the commuting periphery of Brussels. The model hypothesizes that households effect on urban development, through their valuation of neighbourhood externalities. A coarse sensitivity analysis is undertaken in order to explore the relationship between household neighbourhood preferences and emerging spatial morphologies. These macro-structures are measured with different indices in order to parameterize the model.