Cellular Automata and Urban Form: A Primer

30 June 1997

journal article
research article
Published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of the American Planning Association

Vol. 63 (2) , 266-274
https://doi.org/10.1080/01944369708975918

Abstract

Artificial processes for locating urban activities based on simple rules pertaining to local circumstances give rise to complex global patterns that mirror the spatial organization of cities. These systems are called Cellular Automata (CA). They provide a useful means of articulating the way highly decentralized decision-making can be employed in simulating and designing robust urban forms. CA can be easily programmed in a variety of software, and as such provide a suggestive way of exploring actual as well as optimal patterns and plans. This primer provides a pedagogic guide to these ideas and to potential computer applications.

Keywords

This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:

From Cells to Cities
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 1994
Sociospatial Residential Dynamics: Stability and Instability within a Self‐Organizing City
Geographical Analysis, 1994
Cellular Automata and Fractal Urban Form: A Cellular Modelling Approach to the Evolution of Urban Land-Use Patterns
Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 1993
A brief review of cellular automata packages
Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, 1990
Cellular dynamics: How individual decisions lead to global urban change
European Journal of Operational Research, 1987
Cellular Geography
Published by Springer Nature ,1979
Mathematical Games
Scientific American, 1970
A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region
Economic Geography, 1970
A probabilistic model for residential growth
Transportation Research, 1968
AN OPPORTUNITY-ACCESSIEILITY MODEL FOR ALLOCATING REGIONAL GROWTH
Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 1965