A generalised representation for a comprehensive urban and regional model

A general representation for a comprehensive urban and regional model is presented. This is based on production, interaction and consumption arrays – and on structural variables so that it is possible to relate the fast and slow dynamics. It is possible within the framework to estimate the complexity of any particular model formulation and this illuminates aggregation decisions. The representation facilitates the integration of spatial interaction, demographic and input–output submodels in a systematic way and an idealized comprehensive model is presented to illustrate this.