Subway grids exhibit mathematical properties
MAY 17, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026045
BBC : From Beijing to Barcelona, all subway networks share similar generic features, according to a study published yesterday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Despite differences in when they were built and where, all systems seem to evolve and self-organize in mathematically similar ways: “The number of branches scales roughly as the square root of the number of stations, the current proportion of branches represents about half of the total number of stations, and the average diameter of branches is about twice the average radial extension of the core,” write Camille Roth and coauthors in their paper. They surmise “the existence of dominant, universal mechanisms governing the evolution of these structures.”
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
