Urban-Regional Modeling

Sustainable Urban-Regional Modeling Network (SURe Modeling)

John T. Murphy, Ph.D.
NIU Research Associate Professor of Anthropology and Computational Engineer at Argonne National Laboratory

In 2020, John Murphy – along with Sybil Derrible, associate professor of sustainable infrastructure systems at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and Moira Zellner, professor of public policy and urban affairs at Northeastern University (formerly at UIC)– won an Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) seed grant to model the coupled social and ecological systems of the greater Chicago area in order to explore sustainable pathways for the region and support future research.

While much recent research has focused on large cities such as Chicago, extensively modeling them via simulation and mathematical techniques, these studies have largely overlooked the surrounding areas and their connections with those cities.

Murphy, Zellner and Derrible aim to establish a network of researchers to examine how large cities are connected to smaller urban areas in their regions. In particular, they will focus on mapping the Chicago region by bringing together groups of scholars in downtown Chicago, scholars from NIU, and government, nonprofit and corporate decision makers from the Chicago metropolitan and surrounding areas.

The researchers will spend 2021 developing a conceptual model, eventually feeding into a more formal simulation model that will guide future research. These models allow for more accurate predictions about the future effects of current social and economic policies, which often have unanticipated implications due to the complications of human social networks and behaviors.

By using simulation models that make assumptions about the real world and the way people may behave in it, agent-based modeling allows researchers to understand aspects of human behavior and human-environment interactions. Murphy will apply his expertise in agent-based modeling to test the implications of current policies.

This research will provide a valuable tool to policy makers who wish to better predict the effects of current decisions on human behavior, as well as researchers studying cities who wish to better understand how these urban areas are connected to the rest of the world.

Learn more about how SUReNet models urban-regional dynamics in this video.