Planning for sustainable development requires models that can represent the effects of land use and transportation policies on economic welfare, social equity, and the natural environment. Various urban models and geographic information system impact models have been in development for use in the Sacramento, California, region for several years. A comprehensive set of models is proposed. With the improvement of the urban economic model and the addition of a model for real-time scenario generation and evaluation, it is thought that a full suite of models exists for comprehensive regional planning. All the models are free, public license models, appropriate for application in large metropolitan planning organizations and other regional agencies.
Abstract