Simulation model for the transition of urban land use in the occupation of territorial space: Pachuca Metropolitan Area, Hidalgo (Mexico),

A simulation model based on artificial neural networks is presented to understand the spatiotemporal transition dynamics of land use in a representative area of the Metropolitan Zone of Pachuca. Geospatial alphanumeric databases were analyzed and constructed, with information from 2 periods, 2007 and 2014. The results are presented in 3 scenarios regarding the behavior patterns of urban expansion in 2014, the base scenario had an approach of 55%; with an amplitude of 15% it rose to 80%; and with 35% to 95%. The set of simulated variables shows that the data are reliable and the model is capable of representing land use behavior in space-time. A critical point was the process of refinement and categorization of the input variables and the information to correlate the output values.