ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how Microsimulation models (MSM) can be used to explore the effects of a range of possible retail developments in a medium-sized town. To achieve the creation of a micro-population is required that includes household characteristics known to determine shopping behaviour. The chapter describes the development of an MSM model, called SIMtown, through which a database of the total household population with relevant shopping characteristics in and around a Dutch town is simulated. The simulated micro-population is used to analyse the effect of a retail development at different locations on the behaviour of individual households. MSM offers useful insights into the current situation and new developments at the small geographical level as it can effectively turn the sample data from the questionnaire into a full dataset for every household in the Nunspeet region. A major challenge in a planning process is "how to handle spatial complexity".
