Моделирование ранних этапов развития сетей расселения (на примере заселения Северного Иллинойса европейцами)

On the basis of the conceptions of settling as a diffusion process and of subjective rationalities of the process of a settlement place choosing, we develop a methodology for assessing the “favorableness potential” of landscape, which determines the genesis of the network of initial settlements. On the case of Northern Illinois, we made a simulation of the genesis of the primary network of settlements. The periodization of the settling timeline of the study area is given, the distinctive short-term period in which the simulated processes took place is highlighted. Based on the works on the history of Northern Illinois reclamation, key parameters that influenced the formation of human settlements were identified: vegetation type, relief, hydrography, and the location of mineral deposits. The characteristics of the pre-European landscapes have been converted into components of the favorableness field; a synthetic favorableness field has been modeled. The initial settlement pattern is strongly determined by the characteristics of the underlying landscape. There is a significant correspondence of large and medium-sized settlements to local maximums of the favorableness field, while the location of small settlements is determined by some other factors. The developed methodology can be adapted to simulate the formation of the primary network of settlements in other territories.