Modelling informal settlements using a hybrid automata approach

Abstract

Automata based modeling of urban environments focuses on the bottom up emergence of particular phenomena through interactions at the disaggregated level. Two popular approaches are cellular automata (CA) for modelling fixed automata and agent based modelling (ABM) for modelling mobile automata. However, certain urban phenomena cannot easily be modelled by either CA or ABM alone. This research focuses on one such phenomenon, referred to as leapfrog development, which is a discontinuous and dispersed type of urban growth. A hybrid automata model is proposed for modelling such phenomena that combines both CA and ABM into a single integrated model. The proposed model is demonstrated by applying it to a case-study in Dhaka city for simulating the growth of informal settlements associated with the readymade garment industry. © 2013, The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), Hong Kong, and Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA), Department of Architecture-NUS, Singapore.