Simulating the evolution of urban landscapes is
a challenging objective with a large impact not only for Computer Graphics
(for its applications in the filming and gaming industries), but also for
urban planning, economical and historical studies, urban physics, and many
other. However, this target has remained elusive because of the large
complexity implied by urban structures and their evolutions. We present a
system that aims at simulating the evolution of the commercial structure in
a modern city. In particular, given an initial distribution of shops, it
studies the evolution when larger commercial areas, like malls, are
introduced. This is computed using the Huff model as a measure of the
attraction each commerce has on potential consumers, and an agent-based
simulation to determine how these aspects affect their choices. Then, after
a given simulation time, the system decides whether the shop has retained
an income such that it can continue operating, or has gone bankrupt. Our
system is used to study the evolution of the commercial structure of
Barcelona city over the last century.
full paper
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