This publication is concerned with two major current debates in public policy in all affluent societies. One is the widespread concern with the quality of the natural environment-the quality of air, water, land, and wilderness areas-which has expressed itself in the passage and implementation in recent years of a variety of environmental laws and regulations. A second debate concerns the adequacy of energy resources to meet the requirements of a growing economy. The requirement that industries must abate environmental pollution leads to increased costs of production and, in turn, to higher...

This book is unique in that it brings together a collection of recent advances in the field of spatial systems analysis from the perspective of a solid and rigorous research methodology. The topics discussed and presented in a refreshing framework have a wide coverage, ranging from land use and infrastructure issues to spatial chaos theory. Especially the evolution of spatial economic systems is given due attention in this book, with a strong emphasis on behavioural foundations originating from economic theory. This book forms an interesting representation of the research spirit advocated by...