Geographical Modeling

2Choosing Models to Explain the Dynamics of Cities and Territories

2.1. Introduction

As the title of the chapter suggests, this contribution focuses on the choices made throughout a modeling process. The subject is vast and here it is delimited, on the one hand, by a thematic field, which is that of geography, and, on the other hand, by an objective that is to explain a phenomenon. The path between formulating a set of questions to explain a phenomenon linked to the dynamics of cities or territories and developing a model designed to respond to them, or at least to open up avenues for reflection, is indeed punctuated by a whole series of choices. The methodological approach that a researcher chooses to adopt depends both on his objective and on his disciplinary habits and know-how. His choices are not always made in a linear manner and are often based on implicit positions. For example, in response to the same thematic question on the evolution of socio-spatial inequalities in a given territory, one will adopt a qualitative approach based on semi-directive interviews, the other a quantitative approach based on statistical analyses of census data, while a third will turn to agent simulation models. The scope of possibilities thus remains very wide and it will be impossible to be exhaustive in this chapter. The objective is to show a set of nodes within a wide network of approaches, methods, and models that the researcher investigates on the dynamics of cities and the uses of ...