Towards a Co-Evolutionary Model of Demographics and Infrastructure

National infrastructure systems provide a foundation for economic prosperity and well-being. In addition to factors such as technological change and obsolescence, infrastructure systems need to respond to changing levels of demand, which is strongly driven by population growth. However demographic change is not independent of economic conditions, or the nature and quality of infrastructure. This research is concerned with the interrelationships between demographics, economy and infrastructure. The paper therefore develops a novel approach to modelling the evolution of a national economy in the context of changing demographics and infrastructure provision. This approach is based in a model with coupled sub-systems which are spatially disaggregate with explicit temporal dynamics. A version of the model is calibrated using a demographic component which incorporates both natural change and migration, and an economic model which recognises both labour and capital as factors of production. Infrastructure is present as an influence on accessibility, geographical attractiveness and economic productivity. The performance of the model is explored through a variety of scenarios which are offered as an initial proof of concept of the feasibility of implementing a co-evolutionary model of demographic and economic growth over a medium to long time horizon. These scenarios indicate the influence of government policies for international migration and infrastructure investment on regional development and performance

Art, work, and archives: performativity and the techniques of production

Work that takes place inside archives and work that is designated as art are often perceived as conceptually distinct practices, yet it is possible for the two to share common techniques and methodologies. A performative approach can be taken to the production of artworks that is comparable to that of the archive in terms of following a predetermined structure and controlled methodology, and with direct links to archival thinking. I will demonstrate how visual practice can work with, and in consideration of, prescribed standards and open up theoretical debate that is pertinent to archives yet lies outside of conventional archive or art theory. Whilst not wanting to initiate a discourse on specific artworks of my own in this limited space, there will be a detailed discussion as to how the associations between art, work, and archives have become central to my own practice and research. I will discuss how my appropriation of archival techniques of image description results in a “writing and reading” of the image that contests traditional art historical models of image analysis and appears radical when placed alongside them, if one is to understand “radical” as a departure from the norm. Such work does not constitute radical thinking in terms of the archive but becomes radicalized by way of its passage into the milieu of art research, where traditional hermeneutical analysis generally persists. It is a practice that does not oppose but instead utilizes and builds upon archival standards, and aspects of archival thinking permeate the various practices of artists cited in this essay, notably through the application of performative working methods that position their work within an established genre of indexing and categorization. It is also important to note that these works make space for complex and abstract thinking???around images and image sets, and around language itself, whilst still maintaining the structural discourse of the archive at some level. Although archive professionals may not be the expected audience for the practices discussed here, there may be an opportunity for the reverse flow of “work experience”: an unpicking of the methods and thinking of art research could be useful and constructive when taken back into the archive. The examples here, including my own, traverse material culture, cultural theory, performativity, and media archaeology—a thematic that is, after all, as pertinent to archives as it is to art

A New Classification Of UK Local Authorities Using 2001 Census Key Statistics

The 2001 Census has been successfully administered and the Census Organisations are currently engaged in processing the returns. A very large and rich dataset will be produced for the 58,789,194 people of the UK. The Census Area Statistics, for example, delivers 190 tables containing about 6 thousand unique counts relating to the characteristics of the UK population, for output areas and all higher geographies. This paper represents the first results of a project that aims to develop, in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics, a set of general purpose classifications at different geographic scales, including households, neighbourhoods, wards, local authorities and to link the classifications at different levels together. The paper reports on the methods used and results of a classification of the UK’s 434 Local Authorities, using the Key Statistics released in February 2003. This initial classification and description of methods will feed into the ONS/GROS/NISRA project to classify Local Authorities for the whole UK. Further data or digital versions of the classification system are available on request

Creating the National Classification of Census Output Areas: Data, Methods and Results

The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the processes and decisions that were involved in the creation of the National Area Classification of 2001 Census Output Areas (OAs). The project was carried out on behalf of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by Daniel Vickers of the School of Geography, University of Leeds as part of his PhD. thesis. The paper describes the creation of the classification: selection of the variables, assembly of the classification database, the methods of standardisation and the clustering procedures, some discussion of alternative methodologies that were considered for use. The processes used for creating the clusters, their naming and description are outlined. The classification is mapped and visualised in a number of different ways. The OA Classification fits into the ONS suite of area classifications complementing published classifications at Local Authority, Health Authority and Ward levels. The classification is freely available, and can be downloaded from the ONS Neighbourhood Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk

Tunable operation of a gain-switched diode laser by nonresonant self-injection seeding

In this letter, we report tunable operation of a gain-switched diode laser by nonresonant self-injection seeding from an uncoated glass slide used as an external cavity reflector. A spectral linewidth reduction from 11 to 0.05 nm has been achieved for picosecond pulses with little effect on other laser characteristics. Good agreement with numerical simulations based on a compound-cavity laser model is also reported

Accounting for sustainability: episteme change and ontological plurality

Recent research reveals accounting for sustainable development to be both problematic and essential. This paper considers that the problems arising may be intrinsic to the concepts and structures of Modern accounting and that their resolution lies ultimately in the development of the consequences of a new possibility of knowledge or episteme. After a brief presentation of the nature and historic impacts of episteme change, this paper explores the epistemic origins of Modern accounting. Evidence for a new, other than Modern, episteme is then presented and its consequences for accounting for sustainable accounting are explored. Significant evidence in this regard is the work of Bruno Latour from Actor-Network Theory to the plurality of ontologies. Refs 93

Using Hybrid Agent-Based Systems to Model Spatially-Influenced Retail Markets

One emerging area of agent-based modelling is retail markets; however, there are problems with modelling such systems. The vast size of such markets makes individual-level modelling, for example of customers, difficult and this is particularly true where the markets are spatially complex. There is an emerging recognition that the power of agent-based systems is enhanced when integrated with other AI-based and conventional approaches. The resulting hybrid models are powerful tools that combine the flexibility of the agent-based methodology with the strengths of more traditional modelling. Such combinations allow us to consider agent-based modelling of such large-scale and complex retail markets. In particular, this paper examines the application of a hybrid agent-based model to a retail petrol market. An agent model was constructed and experiments were conducted to determine whether the trends and patterns of the retail petrol market could be replicated. Consumer behaviour was incorporated by the inclusion of a spatial interaction (SI) model and a network component. The model is shown to reproduce the spatial patterns seen in the real market, as well as well known behaviours of the market such as the "rocket and feathers" effect. In addition the model was successful at predicting the long term profitability of individual retailers. The results show that agent-based modelling has the ability to improve on existing approaches to modelling retail markets.Agents, Spatial Interaction Model, Retail Markets, Networks

Oil Price Trackers Inspired by Immune Memory

We outline initial concepts for an immune inspired algorithm to evaluate and predict oil price time series data. The proposed solution evolves a short term pool of trackers dynamically, with each member attempting to map trends and anticipate future price movements. Successful trackers feed into a long term memory pool that can generalise across repeating trend patterns. The resulting sequence of trackers, ordered in time, can be used as a forecasting tool. Examination of the pool of evolving trackers also provides valuable insight into the properties of the crude oil market