On transition rules of complex structures in one-dimensional cellular automata: Some implicaltions for urban change

Abstract

Based on the assumptions that cities are semi-lattices and that their spatial configuration are complex structure, I use one-dimensional cellular automaton representing a hypothetical, linear city as an analytic tool to investigate possible transition rules fulfilling these requirements, and base on that metaphor to draw some implications for urban change. For two-value (k=2), one-neighbor (r=1) one-dimensional cellular automata, the stochastic transition rules thus found imply that determinism at one level can give rise to stochasticity at another level, and that the seemingly stochastic processes of urban change might indeed be governed by a few deterministic transition rules.