Location characteristics
Land use conversions are expected to take place at locations with the highest
'preference' for the specific type of land use at that moment in time. Preference
represents the outcome of the interaction between the different actors and decision
making processes that have resulted in a spatial land use configuration. The preference
of a location is empirically estimated from a set of factors that are based on the different,
disciplinary, understandings of the determinants of land use change. The preference is
calculated following:
Rki = akX1i + bkX2i + .....
where R is the preference to devote location i to land use type k, X1,2,... are biophysical or
socio-economical characteristics of location i and ak and bk the relative impact of these
characteristics on the preference for land use type k. The exact specification of the
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model should be based on a thorough review of the processes important to the spatial
allocation of land use in the studied region.