Alan Wilson – contributions to research on population and migration

ABSTRACT

This article reviews Alan Wilson's research on population and migration in the 1970s and the 2010s, which supplements his principal contribution - mathematical modelling of urban and regional systems. In the 1970s, drawing on input-output models of economies and working with Philip Rees, Wilson established the accounting basis for Andrei Rogers' multi-regional projection model, adding international migration. Innovative methods were developed to complete demographic accounts, where there were data gaps. In the 2010s, working with Adam Dennett, Wilson systematized methods for estimating migration flows between regions in Europe, employing his family of spatial interaction models. The key aim of both research strands was to ensure that no information was ignored to ensure consistency in population and migration models. The influence of Wilson's contributions to research on population and migration is traced through a survey of subsequent research.

KEYWORDS:

• The work of Professor Sir Alan Wilson
• models of urban and regional systems
• demographic accounts
• demographic projection models
• migration estimation
• forecasting migration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Philip Rees is Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds. He has taught population geography and researched demographic issues since 1970. His current interest focuses on the future of the UK’s populations by ethnicity at national and local scales. Recent papers include ‘The impacts of international migration on the UK’s ethnic populations’ (Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2019), ‘Projections of domestic water demand over the long-term: A case study of London and the Thames Valley’ (Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 2019), ‘Evaluation of sub-national population projections: A case study for London and the Thames Valley’ (Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy, 2018) and ‘The impact of internal migration on population redistribution: An international comparison’ (Population, Space and Place, 2017).

Adam Dennett is Associate Professor at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College, London, where he is the Director. His main interests include migration studies (modelling migration using spatial interaction models), beer and brewing geographies, longitudinal analysis and urban analytics. He works on research projects in areas as diverse as building stock, crowd-sourcing, residential mobilities, urban health and inequalities and housing analysis. Tying all these themes together are an interest in quantitative data on human geographical activities and appropriate quantitative methods to analyse them. Recent papers include ‘Modelling population flows using spatial interaction models’ (Australian Population Studies 2018), ‘New forms of data for understanding urban activity in developing countries’ (Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy, 2018) and ‘The geography of London’s recent beer brewing revolution’ (The Geographical Journal, 2017).