This project offers an exciting opportunity for a high-calibre PhD studentto work on interdisciplinary research in Cardiff School of City and RegionalPlanning and Cardiff School of Computer Science.

A major challenge in both the developed and the developing worlds is tomanage the growth of towns and cities in a manner that meets the economicand social requirements of citizens and of governments, while at the sametime maintaining a sustainable environment. The development policies ofnational and regional levels of government aim to achieve this balance but,in practice, it is necessary to wait some years to find out whether policyobjectives are met. There is a long tradition of computer simulations thatmodel the expected growth of population centres with a view to increasingthe chances of meeting development objectives.

Many urban simulation methodologies developed to date have proved to beeither too simplistic or too complex. The purpose of the proposed researchis to develop novel computer simulation methods that take an agent- orcall-based approach and improve upon existing methods with regard tocomputational efficiency, theoretical justification, methodologicaltransparency and representative accuracy. This is likely to involve workingwith existing extensive data sources of cities and developing calibrated andevaluated models.

Most research to date in the field or urban simulation has been based withingeography and planning departments using a relatively limited set ofsimulation tools. The studentship, and the link between the Schools ofComputer Science and City and Regional Planning, has the potential to helpmove the subject forward by exploiting computer knowledge that can beapplied to develop more effective simulation techniques.

This studentship is available under Cardiff University’s Richard WhippStudentships Scheme. It provides funding for three years, commencing session2006/7. For each of the three years, the University will meet the costs ofthe National Minimum Doctoral Stipend and the Cardiff fee at the home/EUrate (although non-EU applicants are also welcome to apply).