UrbanSim Indicator Browser
by
Casey Huggins
UrbanSim is an integrated simulation system that models the development
of urban areas over periods of 20 or more years. Its purpose is to help
inform public decision-making on decisions involving major
transportation system changes, land use decisions, and their
environmental impacts. Using the UrbanSim simulator, large volumes of
census data are processed in a variety of statistical models. Changes
in population, land use, employment, transportation and more are all
calculated and stored in an output database. The interpretation of this
data is largely accomplished by means of indicators. As defined in
modeling literature, an indicator is a variable that conveys information
on the condition and/or trend of an attribute (or attributes) of the
system being considered. The challenge, then, is to create a system in
which interested persons, no matter what their level of programming
skill, can view the results of some indicator on an output database.
The Indicator Browser will accomplish this. There are several
interesting technical questions to be addressed in the implementation of
this software, including how to manage complex indicator computation,
ways design an intuitive UI for large numbers of indicators, and how to
manage communication between system components.
Advised by Alan Borning
CSE 403
Wednesday
March 9, 2005
3:30 - 4:20 pm