This tutorial covers the essentials of running an UrbanSim simulation. We do not cover some complications that are not essential to running UrbanSim, like setting up a database server, creating a base year database, and estimating the model parameters. These omitted items are part of the larger process of preparing to use UrbanSim in a new area, and will be covered elsewhere.
The tutorial uses a new graphical interface that we are developing. This GUI is still in the early stages, and is incomplete in various ways. We'll keep updating the tutorial as additional functionality is implemented.
For the simulation, we use the 1980 base year data for the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon area. This is provided in a non-database format that we refer to as a ``cache'', since it is a copy of the required data from the associated MySQL database. The base year data includes all the model parameters. Since the model runs quickly on this data, one should be able to compute and visualize indicators from a simulation over 2 years within 20 minutes.
We have tested this tutorial on Windows, Mac and Linux.