Chapter 14: Accessibility in the Luci2 Urban Simulation Model and the Importance of Accessibility for Urban Development

The luci2 Urban Simulation Model forecasts changes in employment and the conversion of nonurban land to residential and employment-related uses. The model and its initial implementation for Central Indiana have several distinctive aspects: It covers a large area including 44 counties and 8 Metropolitan Statistical Areas. It easily allows the creation and comparison of future development scenarios reflecting a wide range of policy choices and assumptions affecting future development. And it is designed for use directly by citizens and policy makers, requires no special expertise to use, and is freely-distributed to interested users on the web.

Accessibilities to both employment and population have long been considered to play a significant role in shaping patterns of urban development and have been used in urban simulation models. The luci2 model provides the opportunity to examine the importance of accessibility both by considering the estimation of the equations for the model and by the comparison of scenarios created by the model using alternative assumptions regarding the relative importance of accessibility.