An Agent-Based Modeling approach for sustainable urban planning from land use and public transit perspectives

Abstract Urbanism is a challenging topic in the world, which has resulted in several land-use and transportation issues in urban environments. To address these issues, urban planners follow integrated planning approaches that are more compatible with sustainable development objectives. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is widely recognized as one of the most feasible and comprehensive sustainable planning approaches. In this research, a three-step TOD-based method was developed for sustainable urban planning in the central region of Tehran. First, a measurable index was developed to assess public transit infrastructure (PTI) and TOD levels in the study area. At the second step, which was the focus of the research, an Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach was used to make a balance between TOD and PTI levels. ABM is a bottom-up approach that can solve spatial problems and can be integrated with top-down policies and spatial analysis tools. Finally, the performance of the model was evaluated by conducting several statistical, visual and empirical assessments using Tehran municipality's reference data. These assessments confirmed the efficiency and feasibility of the model.