Congratulations to the 2020 Smeed Prize winner, Aditya Tafta Nugraha from the University of Southampton. Tafta’s paper was entitled “Unravelling the dynamics behind the urban morphology of port-cities using a LUTI model based on cellular automata”.

Tafta’s research aims to investigate the urban dynamics influencing land use distribution in the context of port cities. He used a land use and transport interaction model (LUTI) based on hexagonal cellular automata (CA) to examine land use distribution in over 50 settlements across Great Britain and conducted a cross-sectional analysis to compare and contrast interactions within different types of port cities. Tafta is interested in modelling the connection between transport and land use and how to model. In the wider context, he would like to apply this research interest towards promoting sustainable mobility, especially within the urban context.

Sarah-Anne de Kremer from Loughborough University was awarded second place for her paper entitled “Factors affecting propensity to lift-share for children’s leisure activities”.