A multi-agent paradigm as structuring principle for planning support systems

Although urban plans may appear simple once completed, they are the outcomes of a highly complex decision-making process. This complexity makes it difficult to develop Planning Support Systems (PSS) that are comprehensive, flexible, intelligent and, yet, understandable to users. Great improvements are within reach, however, when observing the advances being made with regard to component-based software engineering and development and the role that multi-agent technology can play in this respect. This paper intends to bring this to mind and introduces a conceptual framework for PSS to describe how using a multi-agent paradigm as structuring principle could further both the intelligence and flexibility of such systems in terms of operation, functionality, usability, extensibility and adaptability. The framework is structured as an agent organization consisting of three types of agents: ‘interface agents’ to improve the user–system interaction; ‘tool agents’ to support the use and management of models; and ‘domain agents’ to provide access to specialized knowledge. As the agents are linked to specific system components, data flows in the system take the form of agent communication, while the interaction between agents enables a smooth integration of system functionality. Furthermore, the consistent definition of agents as human-like specialists facilitates users’ understandability.

[1]  Anthony Gar-On Yeh,et al.  Component-Based Approach in the Development of a Knowledge-Based Planning Support System. Part 2: The Model and Knowledge Management Systems of KBPSS , 2004 .

[2]  Hyacinth S. Nwana,et al.  Software agents: an overview , 1996, The Knowledge Engineering Review.

[3]  José Cuena,et al.  Distributed models for decision support , 1999 .

[4]  Steven J. Plimpton,et al.  Massively parallel methods for engineering and science problems , 1994, CACM.

[5]  Ian D. Bishop,et al.  Management of Recreational Areas: GIS, Autonomous Agents, and Virtual Reality , 2000 .

[6]  Anthony Gar-On Yeh,et al.  Applying Case-Based Reasoning to Urban Planning: A New Planning-Support System Tool , 1999 .

[7]  Lewis D. Hopkins.  Structure of a Planning Support System for Urban Development , 1999 .

[8]  NICHOLAS R. JENNINGS,et al.  An agent-based approach for building complex software systems , 2001, CACM.

[9]  Anthony Gar-On Yeh,et al.  Component-Based Approach in the Development of a Knowledge-Based Planning Support System (KBPSS). Part 1: The Architecture of KBPSS , 2004 .

[10]  M. Janssen,et al.  Multi-Agent Systems for the Simulation of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change: A Review , 2003 .

[11]  Monica Wachowicz,et al.  A design and application of a multi-agent system for simulation of multi-actor spatial planning. , 2004, Journal of environmental management.

[12]  Michael Wooldridge,et al.  Applications of intelligent agents , 1998 .

[13]  Soumitra Dutta,et al.  Case-based decision support , 1998, CACM.

[14]  Ta Theo Arentze,et al.  A Multiagent Model for Alternative Plan Generation , 2005 .

[15]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  The new science of management decision , 1960 .

[16]  Gerhard Weiss,et al.  Multiagent systems: a modern approach to distributed artificial intelligence , 1999 .

[17]  Timothy C. Coburn,et al.  Geographical Information Systems: Principles, Techniques, Applications and Management: 2nd Edition, Volumes 1 and 2, Paul A. Longley, Michael F. Goodchild, David J. Maguire and David W. Rhind (Eds.), 11240 pp., Wiley, New York, 1999, ISBN 0-471-32182-6, US $345.00 , 2000 .

[18]  Michael Batty,et al.  Planning support systems and the new logic of computation , 1995 .

[19]  Henry Lieberman,et al.  Integrating user interface agents with conventional applications , 1998, IUI '98.

[20]  David A. Bennett,et al.  Agent-based modelling environment for spatial decision support , 2003, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[21]  Ian D. Bishop,et al.  Planning support : Hardware and software in search of a system , 1998 .

[22]  J. Handler.  Making sense out of agents , 1999, IEEE Intelligent Systems and their Applications.

[23]  Arnold K. Bregt,et al.  Multi-actor-based land use modelling: spatial planning using agents , 2001 .

[24]  Hjp Harry Timmermans,et al.  Towards a generic multi-agent engine for the simulation of spatial behavioural processes : MASQUE/SwarmCity , 2004 .

[25]  Pattie Maes,et al.  Agents that reduce work and information overload , 1994, CACM.

[26]  Michael Batty,et al.  Advanced Spatial Analysis: The CASA Book of GIS , 2003 .

[27]  Stan C. M. Geertman,et al.  Planning support systems: an inventory of current practice , 2004, Comput. Environ. Urban Syst..

[28]  Franco Zambonelli,et al.  Signs of a Revolution in Computer Science and Software Engineering , 2002, ESAW.

[29]  A. Yeh.  Urban Planning and GIS , 1998 .

[30]  Michael Batty,et al.  Researching the Future of GIScience , 2003 .

[31]  Katerina Alexiou,et al.  Structuring the Plan Design Process as a Coordination Problem: The Paradigm of Distributed Learning Control Coordination , 2003 .

[32]  Michael Wooldridge,et al.  Agent technology: foundations, applications, and markets , 1998 .

[33]  Nicholas R. Jennings,et al.  A Roadmap of Agent Research and Development , 2004, Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.

[34]  R E Klosterman.  New Perspectives on Planning Support Systems , 1999 .

[35]  Albert J. Rutledge.  Anatomy of a Park: The Essentials of Recreation Area Planning and Design , 1971 .

[36]  Harry Timmermans,et al.  Recent Advances in Design and Decision Support Systems in Architecture and Urban Planning , 2006 .