Abstract
In this paper we analyse the street network of London both in its primary and dual representation. To understand its properties, we consider three idealised models based on a grid, a static random planar graph and a growing random planar graph. Comparing the models and the street network, we find that the streets of London form a self-organising system whose growth is characterised by a strict interaction between the metrical and informational space. In particular, a principle of least effort appears to create a balance between the physical and the mental effort required to navigate the city.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. Batty, Cities and Complexity (The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussets, 2005)
G.K. Zipf, Human Behaviour and the Principle of Least Effort (Addison-Wesley Press, 1949)
M. Batty, P. Longley, Fractal cities (Academic Press, London and San Diego, 1996)
P. Blanchard, D. Volchenkov, Mathematical Analysis of Urban Spatial Networks (Springer Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, 2009)
K.J. Kansky, Structure of transportation networks (University of Chicago, Chicago, 1963)
B. Jiang, C. Claramunt, Environ. Plann. B 31, 151 (2004)
L. Euler, Comm. Acad. Sci. I. Petropol. 8, 128 (1736)
A.P. Masucci, G.J. Rodgers, Phys. A 387, 3781 (2008)
V. Colizza, A. Vespignani, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 148701 (2007)
A. Wilson, J.R. Soc. Interface 5, 865 (2008)
S. Porta, P. Crucitti, V. Latora, Phys. A 369, 853 (2006)
A.L. Barabási, R. Albert, H. Jeong, Phys. A 272, 173 (1999)
R. Diestel, Graph Theory (Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, New York, 2005)
M. Rosvall, A. Trusina, P. Minnaghen, K. Sneppen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 028701 (2005)
J. Simmie, Planning London (UCL Press, London, UK, 1994)
M. Barthélemy, A. Flammini, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 138702 (2008)
S. Gerke, C. McDiarmid, Comb. Probab. Comput. 13, 165 (2004)
R. Bruegmann, Sprawl: a compact history (University of Chicago Press, Illinois, 2005)
J. Buhl, J. Gautrais, N. Reeves, R.V. Solé, S. Valverde, P. Kuntz, G. Theraulaz, Eur. Phys. J. B 49, 513 (2006)
A.P. Masucci, G.J. Rodgers, Adv. in Compl. Syst. 12, 113 (2009)
M.A. Serrano, M. Boguñá, R. Pastor-Satorras, Phys. Rev. E 74, 055101 (2006)
S. Lämmer, B. Gehlsen, D. Helbing, Phys. A 363, 89 (2006)
L. Figueiredo, L. Amorim, 6th International Space Syntax (Istanbul, Turkey, 2007)
D.J. Watts, S.H. Strogatz, Nature 393, 440 (1998)
V. Kalapala, V. Sanwalani, A. Clauset, C. Moore, Phys. Rev. E 73, 026130 (2006)
M. Boguñá, R. Pastor-Satorras, A. Vespignani, Eur. Phys. J. B 38, 205 (2004)
L.C. Freeman, Social Networks 1, 215 (1979)
M. Batty, Envir. and Plann. B 6, 191 (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Masucci, A., Smith, D., Crooks, A. et al. Random planar graphs and the London street network. Eur. Phys. J. B 71, 259–271 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2009-00290-4
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2009-00290-4