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Spatio-temporal Approaches presents a well-built set of concepts, methods and approaches, in order to represent and understand the evolution of social and environmental phenomena within the space. It is basedon examples in human geography and archeology (which will enable us to explore questions regarding various temporalities) and tackles social and environmental phenomena. Chapter 1 discusses how to apprehend change: objects, attributes, relations, processes. Chapter 2 introduces multiple points of view about modeling and the authors try to shed a new light on the different, but complementary approaches of geomaticians and thematicians. Chapter 3 is devoted to the construction of spatio-temporal indicators, to various measurements of the change, while highlighting the advantage of an approach crossing several points of view, in order to understand the phenomenon at hand. Chapter 4 presents different categories of simulation model in line with complexity sciences. These models rely notably on the concepts of emergence and self-organization and allow us to highlight the roles of interaction within change. Chapter 5 provides ideas on research concerning the various construction approaches of hybrid objects and model couplings.

Qu'il s'agisse de l'évolution des inégalités scolaires, des conséquences de la métropolisation ou encore des transformations de paysages, les phénomènes sociaux et environnementaux partagent des enjeux épistémologiques et méthodologiques similaires.S'appuyant sur la géographie humaine, la géographie environnementale et l'archéologie, Objets géographiques et processus de changement propose un ensemble construit de concepts et de démarches permettant d'appréhender, de représenter et d'analyser les données spatio-temporelles. Afin d'expliciter les changements concernant les systèmes spatiaux, il développe des notions issues notamment des sciences de l'information, des sciences de la complexité et des champs thématiques en fonction d'une problématique spatio-temporelle.Emaillé d'exemples concrets, cet ouvrage analyse l'identification critique des entités concernées (phase conceptuelle), la description du changement (méthodes exploratoires et analyse statistique) et la compréhension des processus sous-jacents à l'évolution du phénomène étudié (modèles de simulation).

L’objectif de cet article est de comparer une approche statistique, l’analyse des données (AD) et une approche de simulation, les systèmes multi-agents (SMA). Ces deux familles de méthodes sont a priori considérées comme représentatives d’une approche numérique, respectivement symbolique, de la modélisation spatiale. Le cas d’application qui est mobilisé tout au long de l’article est celui de la ségrégation de l’espace scolaire en Île-de-France. En premier lieu sont explicitées et discutées les différentes étapes menant d’une question thématique à l’opérationnalisation d’une méthodologie d’analyse statistique ou de simulation destinée à analyser cette question. Pour effectuer cette comparaison, on développe un cadre conceptuel à l’interface entre les deux, qui permet de vérifier la compatibilité entre les arrières plans théoriques associés aux domaines thématiques et de modélisation en jeu. Ce cadre conceptuel prend appui sur une démarche ontologique qui est ensuite présentée. Celle-ci permet d’identifier les complémentarités entre AD et SMA et de montrer comment ces deux méthodes peuvent dialoguer dans le cadre d’une même recherche. Nous montrons combien les aspects numériques et symboliques sont finalement étroitement imbriqués au sein même de chacune de ces méthodes. Cette imbrication permet de construire une « spirale d’interactions » entre les deux familles de méthodes dont l’intérêt est illustré par les va et vient entre les phases d’analyse de structure et de simulation dynamique dans le cas de la ségrégation scolaire. The aim of this article is to compare a statistical approach, “geometric data analysis” (GDA), and a simulation approach, the multi-agent systems (MAS), considered as representative, respectively, of a numerical and a symbolic approach of modelling. The case study concerns segregation of scholar space in the Parisian area. First the different steps leading from a thematic question to the development of an operational model to analyze this question are presented. The central and essential role of a conceptual framework at the interface of both is shown. Indeed, before operationalisation, it is necessary to verify the compatibility between the theoretical backgrounds associated to the thematic hypotheses and the model considered. An ontological approach is then presented and used to compare GDA and MAS in order to identify their complementarities and show how these approaches can dialogue in the same research. The close interweaving between numerical and symbolic aspects in each of these approaches is shown. This leads to the construction of a “spiral of interactions” between GDA and MAS which interest is illustrated by the back and forth between modeling structure and dynamics in the case of scholar segregation.

Multi-agent systems have been used for fifteen years to simulate the dynamics of social phenomena. They help conceptualize interactions between an organized set of agents and to explore the structures that emerge through the formalization of complex situations where heterogeneous agents operate at various levels. This paper presents and discusses a framework of thought which articulates the relevant fields (empirical, conceptual, model) in a general way, and in the case of multi-agent systems. It then develops an analytical framework to capture the various uses of these systems, exploring in particular the methodological opposition between parsimonious models (KISS) and descriptive models (KIDS), which in fact reflect different stages in scientific Investigation. Finally, it uses this framework and grid to analyse several examples from sociology, economics and geography (residential segregation, educational Inequality, the emergence of norms, market operation, urban hierarchy) and concludes with methodological proposals based on an abductive approach to the use of multi-agent systems in social science. Adapted from the source document.

Background In recent years, there have been a growing number of studies on spatial inequalities in health covering a variety of scales, from small areas to metropolitan areas or regions, and for various health outcomes. However, few investigations have compared health status between cities with a view to gaining a better understanding of the relationships between such inequalities and the social, economic and physical characteristics. This paper focuses on disparities in respiratory health among the 55 largest French cities. The aim is to explore the relationships between inter-urban health patterns, city characteristics and regional context, and to determine how far a city’s health status relates to the features observed on different geographical scales. Methods We used health data describing hospitalizations for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as a proxy for respiratory health, and the total number of hospitalizations (overall) as a proxy for general health. This last indicator was used as a benchmark. A large set of indicators relating to socioeconomic, physical and amenity aspects of the cities (urban units) was also constructed. Data were analyzed using linear correlations and multiple linear regression models. Results The results suggest that socioeconomic characteristics are major discriminators for inequalities in respiratory health status among urban units. Indeed, once combined to socioeconomic characteristics, only a climate indicator remained significant among the physical indicators. It appeared that the pollution indicators which were significantly correlated with COPD hospitalization rates loosed significance when associated to the socio-economic indicators in a multiple regression. The analysis showed that among the socio-economic indicators, an employment indicator derived at the regional scale, and two indicators reflecting the unequal intra-urban spatial distribution of population according to their education, were the most efficient to describe differences in the respiratory health status of urban units. Conclusion In order to design effective urban policies, it is essential to gain a better understanding of the differences among cities in their entirety, rather than solely differences across small urban areas or individuals.

Agent-based systems have been in use since the 1990s to simulate the dynamics of social phenomena. They help to conceptualize interactions between an organized set of agents and to explore the structures that emerge through the formalisation of complex situations where heterogeneous agents operate at various levels. This article presents and discusses a conceptual framework which articulates the relevant fields (empirical, conceptual, model) in a general way, and in the case of multi-agent systems. It then develops an analytical framework to capture the various uses of these systems, exploring in particular the methodological opposition between parsimonious models (KISS) and descriptive models (KIDS), which could be viewed as different stages in scientific investigation. Finally, it uses this framework and criteria to analyse several examples from sociology, economics and geography (residential segregation, educational inequality, the emergence of norms, market operation, urban hierarchy) and concludes with methodological proposals based on an abductive approach to the use of multi-agent systems in social science.

The structure and evolution of settlement systems are objects of study for archeologists and geographers. Each discipline has its own practices. Considerable advances have been made in the last two decades as a result of the crossing of methodologies from these two disciplines and consideration of settlement environments and their interactions. The paper shows how this interdisciplinary research is connected to more classic research in archeology, and how it has led to advances in the understanding of the structuring of settlement and land-use development in the long term.