The Swarm City - Characteristics of the Swarm Intelligence System in the Traditional Arab City

Abstract

Specialized architectural studies based on the swarm concept have emerged for nearly two decades. The formation formula based on swarm intelligence is beginning to emerge as a methodological and conceptual basis for a range of generative architectural design strategies. The intelligence of the swarm and the logic on which the swarm system is based can be seen in traditional urban formations, where traditional cities follow models of sustainable natural processes, which best match the simple rules of the swarm system. Accordingly, the research problem was recognized as “the lack of a cognitive background for the characteristics of the swarm’s intelligence system and its function in the structure of the traditional Arab city fabric”. Therefore, to solve this problem, the significance of the natural systems and their impact on the sustainability of cities was determined, and the definition of the swarm city, and the theoretical base that supports the features of the swarm intelligence system was developed based on its items extracted in the analysis of the traditional Arab city and the structure of its historical fabric. The architectural dependence of swarm intelligence is not an attempt to mimic nature only but to examine the generative potential of swarm logic and draw emerging behavior in generating complex attributes in form, organization, pattern, or structure. Traditional Arab cities, in the structure of their historical fabric, follow the typical characteristics of a swarm intelligence system, in which systems of city formation are embodied according to characteristics of multiple agents, emerging collective behaviors, and highly coordinated self-organization.