Spatial Rules Generate Urban Patterns: Emergence of the Small-World Network

Abstract

Objective explanation of urban patterns requires regeneration of these patterns. We defined eight simple spatial rules for locating a building in space and used these rules to simulate re-generation of the small-world network pattern, which is an archetype in structures of cities. We provided a spatial description of how these rules act generating the mentioned pattern. The description is based on using local spatial predictability of the physical reality, incorporating basic spatial global rules, and reducing the indeterminacy of the simulation model. The results show that following the spatial rules derived from the physical reality, it is difficult to avoid generating the small-world network. This clarifies problem of the urban design approaches damaging the small-world network patterns in contemporary cities. The results also propose the small-world network characteristics for cities that are not pre-planned, or more properly organic cities, settled on flat lands.