ABSTRACT
In the preceding sections ‘interurban’ models were developed which generated the linked spatial evolution of population and economic activities over long times. While the theoretical ideas seem rather seductive, the question of their usefulness and successful application remains to be proven. Here we shall describe a simple application of the ideas that was made to try to model the changing patterns of population and economic activities in the United States, from 1950-1980. (Allen and Engelen, 1985)
The chapter describes a limited attempt (owing to limited funding) to understand the migration flows between the different States of the USA, and to explore how they might continue until the year 2000. The problem is a very interesting one, and at least would link the economic, demographic and migration issues together, instead of treating them separately, as is still the case in the calculations used by the US government today. However, the work described here resulted from a 6 month study, with the consequence that it is inevitably rather superficial. However, the results seem informative and interesting and represent a useful application of the models.
