The IMAGE studio: a tool for internal migration analysis and modelling

This paper presents a 'studio' that facilitates the spatial analysis and modelling of internal migration in any country, dependent upon the provision of an origin-destination matrix of migration flows between a set of basic spatial units plus corresponding populations at risk and digital boundaries. Migration analysts undertaking comparative analysis of internal migration in different countries are confronted with problem that each country has a unique set of sub-national regions. In this paper, we outline the various features of the studio and show how its aggregation and modelling functions have been used to produce substantive results that confront the MAUP challenge. Results show varying systematic trends in the scale and zonation effects of the frictional effect of distance on migration and on the mean distance moved in a selection of northern European countries.