Mid-Atlantic Highlands Regional Simulation                                 

Catherine Dibble

 

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Simulation (MARS) project uses our GeoGraph Computational Laboratory to explore the fundamental driving forces shaping long-run changes in regional settlement patterns in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands Area (MAHA). 

 

The first part of the project uses GeoGraph's parameterized families of synthetic landscapes to model the expected structural and path-dependent effects of long run changes in four economic sectors (GROW, MAKE, SERV, and INFO).  We explore typical settlement patterns for economies dominated respectively by agricultural, manufacturing, service, and information sectors (see Figure 2 below).

 

The second part of the project uses county level data on sector agents, transportation and communication networks, and natural resources to model likely changes in settlement patterns within the MAHA region.  Driving forces include the development of new spatial technologies such as the internet, the effects of shifts from manufacturing to services to information-based sectors, quality-of-life indices such as local cultural, recreational, and environmental conditions, and the degree to which prior structures constrain future changes.   Model results are expected to provide information for policy makers on patterns of regional growth, and to facilitate coordination with related EPA projects on associated environmental risk factors and natural resource effects of alternative scenarios.   

 

 

See http://www.geog.umd.edu/complab/complab/mars.shtml for more information.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Simulation (MARS) project is funded by EPA Grant R83066501 for 2002-2004.   Cathy Carter and Elisabeth Root provided superb research assistance for the MARS project during 2002/2003.