Behavior-driven agent-based models of spatial systems

Human behavior can produce complex patterns in spatial systems made up of large numbers of interacting individuals. An inquiry into the nature of spatial patterns is therefore incomplete without an understanding of the human behavior that gives rise to these patterns (Xie et al. in Ann Assoc Am Geogr 97(3):477–495, 2007). The treatment of pattern formation in space with interacting individuals, however, is tremendously difficult using purely mathematical abstractions. This special issue is an effort to promote new behavioral approaches to the class of computational platforms known as agent-based models.