EUrbanSim, the future European reference model for urban simulation

The BETA is delighted to learn that the urban modeling project submitted via the CNRS, under the coordination of Nathalie Picard, is one of seven projects selected by the Société des grands projets (SGP) as part of its call for projects on Evaluating Major Projects.

BETA has been awarded a 12-month grant of 80,000 euros by SGP to carry out a study on the following research topic: “Making the LUTI traffic analysis tool, used to simulate the interaction between transport and urban planning, clearer and more adaptable to different projects and territories”.

SPG contributes to mobility projects designed in conjunction with local urban planning and development. Assessing their impact, integrating all social, environmental, economic and mobility issues, on a metropolitan and national scaleale, is an essential challenge for the company. To carry out this evaluation, we have launched a call for projects entitled L’évaluation des grands projets, which aims to mobilize research and encourage projects that combine scientific excellence, originality and relevance to operational issues.

The main aim of project is to create a robust, adaptable evaluation model capable of simulating the interactions between public policies, the location of households and activities, urban development, and the behavior of households/individuals and companies/workers, in order to simulate the long-term effects of these policies, at geographical scales ranging from the neighborhood to the planet.

The research team’s ambition is to optimize and develop the UrbanSim model, already used in the Paris region, into the European reference model for urban simulation, under the name EUrbanSim. The transferability of methods already developed in the Île de France region to another region with specific cross-border issues will be one of the main challenges of this project. Another challenge will be to simplify the tool to ensure that users can understand and interpret it, and thus contribute effectively to decision-making.

This enriched, configurable and transferable LUTI model will be designed as an operational toolbox, accessible and directly exploitable by decision-makers for the evaluation of public and territorial policies.

Alongside Nathalie Picard, an econometrician specializing in public policy evaluation, the following people are taking part in this project:

• Anne Stenger, BETA researcher, environmental economist and specialist in the evaluation of public policies and ecosystem services;
• André de Palma, professor emeritus at THEMA, associate researcher at BETA, specialist in transport economics, urban economics and industrial economics;
• Youssef El Yaakoubi, doctoral student at BETA under the joint supervision of Nathalie Picard and Michel Bierlaire (EPFL, Lausanne), whose thesis in econometrics and data science is of major interest for the development of this project;
• Lucas Javaudin, post-doctoral researcher in transport economics at THEMA;
• Filippo Amadio, econometrician, data scientist and expert in the use and development of the UrbanSim model;
• Luis Gomez-Limberopulos, Master’s students in statistics and econometrics and future thesis student at beta.