A model for urban growth processes with continuum state cellular automata and related differential equations

Abstract

A new kind of cellular automaton (CA) for the study of the dynamics of urban systems is proposed. The state of a cell is not described using a finite set, but by means of continuum variables. A population sector is included, taking into account migration processes from and towards the external world. The transport network is considered through an integration index describing the capability of the network to interconnect the different parts of the city. The time evolution is given by Poisson distributed stochastic jumps affecting the dynamical variables, with intensities depending on the configuration of the system in a suitable set of neighbourhoods. The intensities of the Poisson processes are given in term of a set of potentials evaluated applying fuzzy logic to a practical method frequently used in Switzerland to evaluate the attractiveness of a terrain for different land uses and the related rents. The use of a continuum state space enables one to write a system of differential equations for the time evolution of the CA and thus to study the system from a dynamical systems theory perspective. This makes it possible, in particular, to look systematically for bifurcations and phase transitions in CA based models of urban systems.