Urban general equilibrium models and simplicial search algorithms

Abstract This paper describes how simplicial search algorithms work, and discusses how they may be used to solve static theoretical urban models. If such algorithms are to be used, land must be treated as consisting of a number of discrete sections. It is argued that this is not a serious disadvantage, and that for many purposes such discrete models have significant advantages over models in which land is treated as continuous. In particular, it is possible to deal with several groups of people having different tastes and incomes. Several related models are described, and some interesting qualitative results are presented.