SIMSilla

SIMSilla is a fictional open-source simulation framework designed for agent-based modeling of small urban systems. The platform enables researchers and planners to create configurable agents—such as households, firms, and local institutions—that interact within a GIS-enabled environment to explore policy scenarios, land use, and infrastructure dynamics. SIMSilla emphasizes reproducibility through modular components and configuration-driven experiments.

The project was conceived in the mid-2010s by a cooperative of universities and municipal partners to provide an accessible tool for teaching and applied research. An initial public release appeared in 2016, followed by several major updates that expanded data import, visualization, and interoperability with other modeling tools. Development is coordinated by an international user community and a project governance board.

SIMSilla uses a modular, component-based architecture that supports multiple agent types, each with behavior rules defined in configuration files or Python scripts. Core features include GIS data integration, land-use and transport models, a scenario manager, stochastic event handling, and a results dashboard. The platform supports cross-language interaction (Python and Java) and emphasizes reproducible experiments through versioned configurations and seed control. It is released under an open-source license.

In research and planning contexts, SIMSilla is used to test policy interventions, resilience strategies, and urban development plans. Typical applications include housing and transportation planning, emergency response simulations, and environmental policy evaluation in small to mid-sized towns.

Users report that SIMSilla offers flexibility and transparency but note a learning curve and performance considerations for larger models. It has been cited in academic curricula and is used by several municipal planning offices for scenario testing.

See also: agent-based modeling, geographic information systems, simulation software.