The Use of Urban Models: Report on a Survey of Planning Organizations

A survey of nearly 1500 planning agencies indicates that about 25 percent of them are currently using or developing “urban models.” About half of these agencies are using either land use or transportation models, or both, with the transportation planning agencies much more likely to be using models than are the other planning agencies. Among those currently developing models a wider variety of “other” types of models are included. The use of consultants in model development appears to be increasing, with a move away from completely in-house development. Despite the emphasis in the literature on the potential usefulness of such models for the evaluation of alternative plans, their principal use appears to be for projection. More than half the model users rate their models as “very useful” and fewer than I percent find them “not useful.” The transportation and population projection models are rated “very useful” with much greater frequency than are employment projection, land use, or housing models.