MUM is an experimental computational model of urban morphogenesis. It explores how spatial properties interact with social and material parameters in the formation of settlements and cities across different cultures.
MUM user interface (Netto, Lenz and Ribeiro, ongoing work).
The model works with variables such as:
– population density;
– spatial proximity for co-dependent urban agents;
– cellular growth processes;
– material constraints on settlement expansion.
These parameters animate a cellular growth model currently under development. The aim is to simulate how urban forms may emerge from the interaction between social needs, material constraints, and spatial organisation. Rather than treating urban form as a fixed outcome, MUM approaches the city as a morphogenetic process: a structure that develops through the interaction of movement, density, proximity, cooperation, and the spatial requirements of increasingly complex social life.
Model:
https://github.com/PlanningSupportSystems/morphogenesis-model