Opus and UrbanSim News

Eugene-Springfield, Oregon Data for UrbanSim 4 &
UrbanSim Tutorial

• A version of the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon database that works with UrbanSim 4.
• A quick tutorial on running a simulation, creating indicators, and exporting data to MySQL, tab files or csv files.
• Several simple graphical user interfaces to help in these tasks.

UrbanSim User Contributions Area Now Available

July 27, 2006: We have recently created an area on the UrbanSim website for users to contribute and share scripts or utilities that they have found valuable for running models, preparing data, visualizing indicators, etc. Please visit that area and contribute if you have something you have found helpful. (As of 7/2007, the user contributions area is now on the download page of our trac wiki.)

UrbanSim Version 4 and Opus Release Now Available

June 30, 2006: The UrbanSim team has been working since early 2005 on a complete re-design of UrbanSim and a development of a new platform for it: the Open Platform for Urban Simulation (Opus). Opus and UrbanSim 4 are now available for download.

We have been using Opus/UrbanSim 4 in our Puget Sound application of UrbanSim for a number of months, and other applications are underway as well.  The upcoming UrbanSim Users Group meeting will focus on Opus and UrbanSim 4, particularly to help existing UrbanSim 3 users to move to the new platform.  

Here are a few key features of the Opus platform and UrbanSim 4:

• Python is the language for the new implementation, making extensive use of  numeric and graphics libraries available for it. 
• Specification of choice models is now very modular and can be changed easily.  
• Developer model has been redesigned as a location choice model, and is much improved.
• Geography for models can now be modified easily.  Don't like grid cells?  Use parcels, or neighborhoods, or traffic zones.
• Estimation of models is now integrated, with built-in methods to estimate discrete choice and regression models. 
• Visualization of input data and model results is now integrated, using libraries like Matplotlib and OpenEV. 
• Run Management capabilities have been developed to specify, submit, distribute and manage model runs.

Second UrbanSim Users Group Meeting

July 2006: The Second UrbanSim Users Group Meeting will be in Seattle July 9-12, 2006.  See our workshop page for more information (the workshop is full already, however).  We will make materials from the workshop available online after the workshop as well.

NSF Grant on Modeling Uncertainty

January 2006: The UrbanSim team received a new grant under the National Science Foundation Digital Government Program: "Modeling Uncertainty in Land Use and Transportation Policy Impacts: Statistical Methods, Computational Algorithms, and Stakeholder Interaction," Grant No. IIS-0534094.

There are two major research areas in the project.  One is in computational statistics: developing, analyzing, and validating techniques for representing and propagating uncertainty through a sophisticated modeling system. Our approach uses promising but preliminary results in Bayesian melding. We propose to develop new statistical methods adapted to the challenges posed by UrbanSim, which include model stochasticity, large effects of measurement and systematic errors, high dimension of model inputs and outputs, and significant running time for the underlying model.  In addition to the statistical challenges, however, undertaking this approach makes extreme computational demands; and achieving acceptable performance will require algorithmic advances, as well as sound software engineering.  The second major research area is in human computer interaction.  Among the research challenges here are supporting meaningful stakeholder access to and interaction with complex simulations, including representations of uncertainty.  In addition to presenting the results of UrbanSim simulations in useful ways to the different stakeholders, we want to support stakeholders in being able to explore and test alternate scenarios (and the uncertainties around them), via a web interface we call U-Build-It.