ABSTRACT
This introduction provides an overview of key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book is an introduction to the various urban models that have been developed and applied in practical planning situations. This book on operational urban models is intended as a highly practical introduction to urban modelling techniques, and the reader can then proceed to more advanced books such as Batty (1976) and Wilson (1974). Urban models attempt to describe the urban system using mathematical equations. Urban models have quite a short history of development because they deal with large quantities of data which can only be processed by computer. Operational urban models fall into four broad types. Three of the groups are covered in detail and are based on gravity, linear and optimizing mathematics. A fourth group of hybrid models will only be discussed briefly and these contain elements of the other three types linked together by a series of equations.
