Spatial Economics Research Articles

A universal opportunity model for human mobility

Predicting human mobility between locations has practical applications in transportation science, spatial economics, sociology and many other fields. For more than 100 years, many human mobility prediction models have been proposed, among which the gravity model analogous to Newton’s law of gravitation is widely used. Another classical model is the intervening opportunity (IO) model, which indicates that an individual selecting a destination is related to both the destination’s opportunities and the intervening opportunities between the origin and the destination. The IO model established from the perspective of individual selection behavior has recently triggered the establishment of many new IO class models. Although these IO class models can achieve accurate prediction at specific spatiotemporal scales, an IO class model that can describe an individual’s destination selection behavior at different spatiotemporal scales is still lacking. Here, we develop a universal opportunity model that considers two human behavioral tendencies: one is the exploratory tendency, and the other is the cautious tendency. Our model establishes a new framework in IO class models and covers the classical radiation model and opportunity priority selection model. Furthermore, we use various mobility data to demonstrate our model’s predictive ability. The results show that our model can better predict human mobility than previous IO class models. Moreover, this model can help us better understand the underlying mechanism of the individual’s destination selection behavior in different types of human mobility.

The spatial economics of energy justice: modelling the trade impacts of increased transport costs in a low carbon transition and the implications for UK regional inequality

Spatial economic change is an energy justice issue (Bouzarovski and Simcock, 2017) - an essential consideration in how we choose to re-wire the economy for a carbon-free future. Nothing like the conscious system-wide change required has been attempted before. Rapid policy decisions risk embedding existing injustices or creating new ones unless steps are taken to ameliorate those risks. We present a model that takes a whole-system view of the UK spatial economy, examining how increasing distance costs (e.g. through fuel tax hikes) have unequal impacts on regions and sectors. The model establishes an important carbon transition policy principle: change in spatial flows of internal trade, which are certain to occur rapidly during transition, have measurable energy justice implications. Peripheral economic regions, in rural and coastal areas and many city outskirts are most vulnerable, as are petrochemical, agricultural and connected sectors. Policy must go beyond identifying places and sectors most affected: it is the connections between them that matter most. The "push" of spatially aware fiscal policy needs to be combined with the "pull" of targeted interventions designed to promote low-carbon intermediate connections. This is not only just, but would help make (potentially costly) transition more politically acceptable.

Virtualising Space – New Directions for Applications of Agent-Based Modelling in Spatial Economics

Due to enormous technological progress, socio‑economic science has gained new possibilities of investigating complex and not well‑known socio‑economic phenomena. One of the recent promising research approaches is agent‑based modelling (ABM) with connection to geographical (GIS) data. ABM is a bottom‑up research method concerning individuals that live and interact in the artificial environment. In this type of simulation, evolution of the whole system and macro‑level patterns results from individual behaviour of autonomous entities. Combining ABM with GIS data moves the simulation into the real geographical space. Applying this approach provides powerful possibilities of more realistic socio‑economic simulations concerning urban and spatial economics, sociology and psychology. Geosimulation also helps to answer questions about dependencies between geographical space and economic performances of modern cities. In this paper, a closer look at this topic is presented. We deal with the problem of implementation of GIS data into agent‑based modelling software. In the first step of our research procedure, we compare ABM programming platforms, then we chose three of them which provide GIS data support. In the second step, we implement OpenStreetMap GIS data for one of the districts of Poznań into these programming platforms. Finally, we compare the performance of ABM platforms regarding three major criteria: difficulty of programming, GIS data compatibility and available technical support. Our research is the first step in developing a comple Xsocio‑economic urban system under the ABM paradigm.

The Concept of Socio-Spatial Development as the Basis of Economic Security of Megalopolises

This paper investigates major lines of research in socioeconomic and spatial analysis of major urban centers. After thorough investigation of previous research in the fields of spatial economics, proximity analysis and using the phenomenological field concepts, authors propose to consider sociospatial development as foundation of urban economic security. In order to measure the state of urban security, authors suggest distinguishing between three phenomenological axes: axis of socioeconomic development, axis of quality of urban environment, axis of crime rates, and to use methodology of proximity analysis. Using the data on St.-Petersburg authors demonstrate degrees of proximity along distinguished axes. Comparative analysis is performed via STATISTICA packages for cluster analysis, grouping major urban centers using agglomerative cluster-method. Indicators relating to phenomenological axes are chosen as a result of previous studies analysis in the areas of quality of urban environment, urbanization rates and conflicts in major urban centers, as well as through expert evaluation of relative importance of indicators for livability provision.

Persistence and Path Dependence in the Spatial Economy

Persistence and Path Dependence in the Spatial Economy

Endogenous Growth in a Spatial Economy: The Impact of Globalization on Innovations and Convergence

In this paper we explore the claim that spatial interactions among cities are significant drivers of their growth. We assert that reallocation of ideas among cities is a source of improved allocation of resources. Following Broitman et al (2020), we propose a closed economy, agent-based model that is in constant flux. It is populated by autonomous agents that compete and adjust constantly their behavior in reaction to the conditions they perceive. The economy is a dynamic, self-organizing system. We focus on the intensity of globalization as the critical economic process that explains differences in convergence and divergence in the system. The means by which the extent of globalization affects the long-run performance of economies is the geographic reach of new ideas and their conversion into innovations. The question that plays out in our model is the relative influence of globalization and the localized entrepreneurial ecology on innovation. When the globalization is weak new firms are limited by the market value of their own city. As the globalization strengthens, more and more new firms belong to the global playground. We demonstrate that in line with empirical literature, the GDP of our urban system increases greatly with the increase in globalization level.

Категория места в современной теории экономического пространства

Various aspects of spatial economics have taken a meaningful place among actively evolving directions and issues of current economic theory, in the context of aggravated global competition driven by searching out new opportunities for building up the competitive performance of national economies. It is now becoming apparent that the theory of economic space has a great potential key for understanding and elucidation of processes and effects of ongoing socio-economic transformations. A particular manifestation of such a potential to be better explored is the category of place representing quite a dense matrix where various features of economic space meet and intersect. Therefore the elucidation of the place category is closely tied with extending scientific inquiry and shaping an interdisciplinary discourse. The authors focus on assessing the state of spatial economics in the context of current socio-economic transformations; defining place as a fundamental category of this theory; opening up new possibilities for location in actual spatial economy; setting new trends in spatial economics through implementation of the above capabilities; and applications arising from place category findings in the economic space theory. From the perspective of place category the authors explore the bottlenecks and inconsistency of modern socio-economic transformation processes, evaluate their effects at different levels, and assess available tools for the corresponding applications. The article offers recommendations for upgrading spatial aspects of the state economic policy and public management. The obtained results refer to a new and promising direction of the interdisciplinary scientific inquiry warranting the essential novelty and polemical character of the provisions, conclusions and recommendations presented in the article. The study employs the educational resources of the systemic approach, the dialectical method and some contemporary scientific theories such as cognitive economics, socio-economic transformations, human capital, evolutionary and institutional theories, etc.

Interregional and inter-municipal governance in the Russian Federation: strategic and spatial development trends within the constitutional framework

The article is devoted to the study of the processes of interregional and intermunicipal governance in the context of the constitutional reform of the public power system in the Russian Federation. Trends of strategic and territorial development have been formulated, one of which is the need to develop uniform normatively and economically justified rules for strategizing for regions of various hierarchical levels, including the macroregions and urban agglomerations. The methodological basis of the study is based on the theoretical provisions of the strategic management, regional and spatial economics. This study of interregional and intermunicipal governance in the Russian Federation is based on a comprehensive analysis of existing strategic planning documents, as well as legislative acts by using a combination of methods: logical, dialectical, and causal. The article can be useful to scientists and researchers, experts, including state and municipal employees involved in the formation (development and updating), as well as the implementation and control over the implementation of the strategies for the socio-economic development of the territories and other interested persons.

Spatial Economics for Granular Settings

Spatial Economics for Granular Settings

Spatial Economics for Granular Settings

Spatial Economics for Granular Settings

Tribute to Marcus Berliant: A pivotal matchmaker of general equilibrium and spatial economics

AbstractWe review fundamental contributions by Marcus Berliant, with a view to a way forward. We focus on two themes to which he has contributed significantly: general equilibrium theory with land and location and general equilibrium analysis of spatial agglomeration.

Advanced Solow Model as a Tool for Coordination of Interests of Spatial Economic Systems’ Development

The article presents a dynamic socio-ecological-economic model of the synergistic development of individual entities within the southern Russian macro-region, which allows to coordinate the general and private interests of each region. The maximization of specific consumption is proposed as a target criterion, regarding private interests – for the region, regarding general interests – for the macro-region. The model provides for the possibility of using the available resources of each region, both for solving the problems of its own development, and for the general development goals of other regions as part of the macroregion. The model is investigated using simulation modeling based on materials from the Southern Federal District. There are several debatable conclusions made after the research. Calculations, in particular, show that it is not profitable for any region to develop its own production sector in the current conditions, the optimal strategy for each of them is only to increase consumption in the hope of production activity in neighboring regions. In view of the selection of this rational strategy by all regions at the same time, general degradation of the production sphere and stagnation of the regional economy are forecasted. At the same time, it was revealed that a further reduction in production becomes unprofitable for almost all lagging regions (republics of the Southern Federal District), while inaction remain profitable for leading regions (regions of the Southern Federal District).

Balances in strategic planning of the spatial infrastructure systems

The quality and efficiency of strategic planning substantially depends on incorporation of the principle of balance, especially when dealing with spatial infrastructure systems. However, there is no unity in defining and measuring the parameters of such balance at present. The paper is going to improve the theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of balance in the strategic planning of spatial infrastructure systems. Theoretical provisions of strategic planning, system analysis, regional and spatial economics constitute the methodological basis of the study. The study applies the methods of content analysis, average values. As a result of the study, the authors formulate the concept of balance in strategic planning of spatial infrastructure systems, and its qualitative and quantitative parameters, which determine the conditions for the balance of various types, including target, inter-period, planned, and inter-level balances. The paper reveals the imbalances in strategic planning of electric power infrastructure considering the case of Sverdlovsk oblast. In particular, the findings indicate the lack of continuity and time coordination between planning processes, absence of a unified methodology for designing development programmes, insufficient inter-level coordination of the planning process within regions having spatial connections, imbalances in forecast and planning documents according to the parameter of electricity consumption. To improve the process of strategic planning of spatialinfrastructure systems, the researchers suggest constructing mechanisms of interaction between electricity agents, consumers and government authorities in the course of devising strategies and development programmes; working out a unified methodology of strategic planning; institutionalising the relations between parties involved in planning. The research findings can be useful in the practice of regional governance while designing and updating strategic documents, taking into account the spatial importance of the electric power infrastructure complex.

Integration of investment and construction complex of the Rostov region in the economic space of the region

In this paper, the authors initiate a search study of the effective management of investment and construction complex as the basic for the development of the spatial economy of the region.

Dynamics of various population groups in a two-dimensional spatial economy model.

The system of parabolic partial differential equations, which describes the dynamics of various population groups in an urban environment, is considered. The model takes into account both the interaction between different groups in the process of their cohabitation and the diffusion processes of population migration. Various examples of world megacities are considered and some general principles of urban development are formulated.

About one stochastic model of coexistence of various population groups into the urban environment

The problem of the interaction of various population groups in the framework of urban environment is of current interest this time. The population is divided into different strata according to their economic and social characteristics. For example, a population could be classified according to genetic and phenotypic characteristics, belonging to a ethnic group and, first of all, according to income level. In several countries, the co-existence of population groups belonging to different social strata gives rise to serious problems and therefore has been studied from different points of view, mainly from a sociological. Due to the qualitative analysis of various situations, it becomes possible to predict and prevent possible conflicts and problems. The significance of this problem is obvious, but reasonable proposals for its solution have not been put forward. In this regard, the construction of a qualitative, but general mathematical model of the dynamics of various groups of the population is of interest. Such a mathematical model should be built within the framework of the concept of spatial economics. This paper discusses the first version of the model for a situation where there are only two groups of people. The corresponding system of equations includes two nonlinear diffusion equations with terms describing the interaction of the population groups in model. Of course, the basic difficulty is the selection of coefficients, which will provide the picture as close as possible to reality, so it makes sense to add to the model and stochastic terms that will be responsible for random environmental factors. Thus, a two-dimensional stochastic model of the temporal dynamics of the distribution of two population groups in an urban environment was presented and numerically investigated. As a result of the mathematical modeling certain estimates were obtained regarding the feasibility of considering stochastic factors in the proposed mathematical model.

Distance-based measures of spatial concentration: introducing a relative density function

For a decade, distance-based methods have been widely employed and constantly improved in the field of spatial economics. These methods are a very useful tool for accurately evaluating the spatial distribution of plants or retail stores, for example (Duranton and Overman, 2008). In this paper, we introduce a new distance-based statistical measure for evaluating the spatial concentration of economic activities. To our knowledge, the m function is the first relative density function to be proposed in the economics literature. This tool supplements the typology of distance-based methods recently drawn up by Marcon and Puech (2012). By considering several theoretical and empirical examples, we show the advantages and the limits of the m function for detecting spatial structures in economics.

Land Reform and Belonging in South Africa: A Place-making Perspective

ABSTRACTPolitical debate around South African land reform peaks in the run up to the national elections. 2019 was no exception. Escalating urban ‘land grabs’ in 2017 had already increased emotion, tension and political urgency on the issue. However, the debate again carried surprisingly little weight at the polls. It was overshadowed by the burning issues of jobs, housing, crime, corruption and service delivery. We offer some insights into the racial and cultural topography of the attachment to land in South Africa, and how historical processes of settlement affect the nature of land hunger and demand in South Africa today through a place-making lens. The article is based on our own experiences, research and observations in rural and urban and urban areas, along with two recent studies of urban and rural land hunger we jointly undertook in 2017 and 2018. In retrospect it seems that, despite the perversely unequal nature of the South African spatial economy, there is an uncanny stability to local settlement patterns. Despite urbanisation, the homelands remain favoured spaces for African homemaking, while white South Africans cling to the coastline as a preferred place of investment. The debate about the productive use of land for development, we argue, should not be abstracted from an appreciation of the complex way in which land is inhabited, used and valued.

Report from 3rd Legal Forum of Spatial Economy and Construction 'Special Investment and Construction Acts

The 3rd Legal Forum of Spatial Economy and Construction, entitled 'Special Investment and Construction Acts', was held on 31 May 2019 at the University of Gdańsk. It was organised by the Department of Administrative Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Gdańsk. The Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Forum, and at the same time the originator of this series of Legal Forums on Spatial Economy and Construction has been Tomasz Bąkowski, PhD, professor of the University of Gdańsk, while the Organising Committee was led by Tomasz Bojar-Fijałkowski, PhD. The forum was held under the auspices of the presidents of Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk, its sponsor was the Energa Foundation, and its co-organiser was the Foundation for the Development of the University of Gdańsk. The event was attended by over 40 representatives of academic and professional circles representing the largest Polish university centres, as well as administration and judiciary bodies.

Innovative Approaches to Business Managing Functional Areas in a Territory

Information support for organization and management of functional areas in a territory has been considered from the standpoint of innovation. Adequacy and proximity of territorial life activity perspectives based on interaction of its functional areas to the perspectives and concepts of spatial economics has been shown. Based on the requirements of a system approach, a set of structures that determine the operation of social and business areas in a territory has been considered; management of a social and business area in a territory is presented as an act of impact on facilities in the functional areas of a territory for the purpose of changing their operational format and can thereby selectively affect each of six parameters and current characteristics of a model reflecting the state of functional areas in a territory that are listed in the paper below. The work also justifies an approach to implementing a distributed information system to support processes through the case study of a control area, a functional agricultural area in a territory, which uses Blockchain technology for gathering, processing, storage, organization and management of key data about each product through the example of products in the functional agricultural area of the territory during their life cycles.