An agent-based model for exploring land market mechanisms for coastal zone management

This paper presents an agent-based model of a land market (ALMA-C) to simulate the emergence of land prices and urban land patterns from bottom-up. Our model mimics individual decisions to buy and to sell land depending on economic, sociological and political factors as well as on the characteristics of the spatial environment. To this we add ecological and environmental considerations and focus on the question of how individual land use decisions can be affected to reduce the pressure on the coastal zone ecosystem functions. A series of model experiments helps visualize and explore how economic incentives at a land market can influence the spatial distribution of activities and land prices in a coastal zone. We demonstrate that economic incentives do affect urban form and pattern, land prices and welfare measures. However, they may not always be sufficient to reduce the pressure on coastal zone ecosystems.