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From: | Paul Box |
Subject: | [Swarmfest2006] abstract submission: Paul Box |
Date: | Wed, 7 Jun 2006 14:49:58 +0930 |
Hello Please find my submission for swarmfest. I am happy to give this presentation at whatever time is most convenient. An agent-based representation of social networks, cooperative behavior, and viability of remote desert communities in central Australia: Paul Box and Yiheyis Maru Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Sustainable Ecosystems Division, Alice Springs, Australia Settlements in desert Austraila are defined by extreme: variable but mostly dry climate, generally low primary productivity at landscape scale, low population density, small numbers of people residing in settlements and great distances to other settlemens or services. Many settlements require significant government resources to reamin viable, spawning much debate about how much public money should go to supporting the relatively small number of people who live there. Viability is defined in terms of a combination of infrastructure, and financial, natural, human and social capital. Social capital, the measure of social cohesiveness, is difficult to measure, as it is defined by quantity and quality of interactions between people, rather than tangible assets. An agent-based framework is presented that demonstrates the nature of social capital, and the role of cooperative behavior and social networks in community viability. Preliminary findings of the model suggest that communities with intact social networks are viable even when other forms of capital are scarce, and communities without functioning social networks are not viable even when money or other assets are plentiful. /////////////////////////////// // Paul Box // Alice Springs, Australia // |
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