What is it about?
This paper describes an easy-to-use set of computer models that help city planners test “what-if” ideas about homes, jobs and transport. The tools, developed in the HARMONY project, link three main parts: a simple demographic forecaster that estimates how many people of different ages will live where; a regional economic model that projects jobs by sector; and a land-use and transport model that shows how people travel between homes, schools, hospitals and workplaces. Together they form a flexible platform so planners can try different choices - new tram or metro lines, hospital relocations, university campuses or redevelopment - and see likely effects across a whole metropolitan area. We demonstrate the approach using Turin, Italy, and run scenarios to 2030. A key advantage is that demographic and economic outputs feed directly into the transport model, so results are coherent and responsive rather than stitched together from separate studies.
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Why is it important?
We present a genuinely integrated, web-based suite that links demographic forecasting, regional economics and land-use/transport modelling in one transparent platform, rather than forcing users to stitch separate analyses together. This makes scenario testing faster, more coherent and easier to share with non-technical stakeholders, planners and local decision-makers. Its timeliness comes from rising demand for accessible, reproducible tools as cities face rapid demographic ageing, shifting job structures and major transport investments - plus a political push for open, evidence-based planning. Because the platform is web-delivered and visually driven, it can broaden engagement and speed uptake of results into policy debates, increasing both the paper’s practical impact and its readership among practitioners and the interested public.
Perspectives
I am particularly happy to see this paper published as it is the result of several years of international collaboration between academic institutions and industry partners across seven European countries. I was particularly pleased to work with those partners and my co-authors: their expertise and commitment made the integrated platform possible. As an individual contributor, I’m proud of how the project brought together diverse skills and perspectives to build a practical tool that makes strategic urban planning more transparent and efficient. I hope this work helps bridge the gap between research and real-world decision-making and encourages more cross-border cooperation on the complex challenges our cities face.
Fulvio Lopane
Northeastern University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An integrated suite for strategic urban modelling: Long-term impact assessment of land use and infrastructure development, PLOS One, August 2025, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0330067.
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