MATER

The general aim of this project is to mix Computational Models, Geographic Information Systems and Historical and Archaeological evidence in order to understand how self-organizational processes shape human settlements throughout a territory, producing the so called Zipf distribution of the size of settlements. The main outcome of the project will be a computational model of the process of territorial self-organization, applied to real-world situations and accounting for historical evidence.

Expected outcomes

1. Reinforcement of the connection between different disciplines (Computer Science, History, Archaeology and Geography) by creating a research object where the interdisciplinary approach is useful.

2. Contribution to the development of the understanding of complex phenomena, specially in the area of spatial self-organization and emergent phenomena of a historical/geographical nature.

3. Contribution to the new perspectives in the understanding of the historical evolution of human settlements, namely in the region of Central Portugal.

4. Creation of computational models able to produce Zipf distributions from real world geographical data.

5. Demonstration of the applicability of the generated models in simulations systems targeting the entertainment industries.

6. Development of technical solutions for the integration of agent-based models, Geographical Information Systems and tridimensional visualization.