Modeling of Land-Use and Ecological Dynamics

Prof. Daniel Czamanski is an economist specializing in urban spatial dynamics and in energy economics. He is a associate dean for graduate studies and research in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He is the director of the city complexity research lab. Czamanski has published a number of books and tens of academic papers. Prof Itzhak Benenson is an expert in geosimulation and agent-based modeling of the complex spatial systems. He is a faculty member and head of the Department of Geography and Human Environment of the Tel Aviv University and the director of the Geosimulation and Spatial Analysis laboratory. Prof. Itzhak Benenson has published several books and numerous papers on analysis and modeling of the human-driven geographic systems. Dr. Dan Malkinson is a faculty member at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at The University of Haifa. He is a landscape ecologist and most of his work pertains to the relationships between spatial patterns and ecosystem processes. He studies the effects of disturbances on ecosystem function with specific interest in the effects of landscape disturbances, such as land use changes and wildfire, on ecosystem function.

• Preface.- Introduction.- The Impact of Land-Use Policy on Urban Fringe Dynamics.- Long-Term Changes in Configuration of Agriculture and Natural Areas Around Cities in the Netherlands (1900 - 1990).- Investigating Land-Use Dynamics at the Periphery of a Fast-Growing City with Cellular Automata at Two Spatial Scales.- The Spatial Morphology of Oporto's Urban Fringe.- Vascular Plant Species Richness Patterns in Urban Environments - Case Studies from Hannover, Germany and Haifa, Israel.- Future Suburban Development and the Environmental Implications of Lawns: A Case Study in New England, USA.- Land Use-Land Cover Dynamics at the Metropolitan Fringe.- Lichens and Plants in Urban Environment.