Title: Specification of CPN models into MAS platform for the modelling of social policy issues: FUPOL project

Authors: Miquel Angel Piera; Roman Buil; Miguel Mujica Mota

Addresses: Department of Telecommunications and Systems Engineering, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona ' Department of Telecommunications and Systems Engineering, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona ' School of Technology, Aviation Academy, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Weesperzijde 190, 1097 DZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract: Simulation transparency is becoming more crucial in the decision making process when quantitative computer tools are used to justify some strategies. The coloured petri net (CPN) formalism is a promising modelling approach to foster simulation transparency by means of state space traceability tools, which have been proven to be useful for modelling system dynamics with conflict patterns. E-governance is one of these areas in which the use of a multi agent system (MAS) to represent social dynamics in a certain urban context could be used to engage citizens in the design of urban policies that affects their habitat environment. In this paper a modelling methodology to represent and analyse a context-aware multi agent-based system, which tends to be highly complex is proposed. CPN models are used to specify citizen's preferences and affinities in front of an urban contextual change, while MAS is used to evaluate the social dynamics by translating the CPN semantic rules into agent's rules in NetLogo.

Keywords: simulation transparency; coloured Petri nets; CPN; state space; multi-agent systems; MAS; multi-agent simulation; e-participation; FUPOL; agent-based systems; modelling; social policy; electronic participation; citizen preferences; urban change; social dynamics; semantics; online participation; e-governance; social dynamics; urban policies; electronic governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSPM.2014.064389

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling, 2014 Vol.9 No.3, pp.195 - 203

Received: 22 Mar 2013
Accepted: 01 Dec 2013

Published online: 16 Oct 2014 *

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