Models and Methods for Spatial Interaction Data

The phenomenon of interest in this chapter may be described in most general terms as interactions between populations of actors and opportunities distributed over some relevant geographic space. Such interactions may involve movements of individuals from one location to another, such as daily traffic flows in which case the relevant actors are individuals such as commuters (shoppers) and the relevant opportunities are their destinations such as jobs (or stores). Similarly, one may consider migration flows, in which case the relevant actors are migrants (individuals, family units, firms) and the relevant opportunities are their possible new locations. Interactions may also involve flows of information such as telephone calls or electronic messages. Here the callers or message senders may be relevant actors, and the possible receivers of calls or electronic messages may be considered as the relevant opportunities (Sen and Smith 1995, Gravity models of spatial interaction behavior. Springer, Berlin pp. 18–19).