The dynamics of urban morphology: the case of Petah Tikvah

Urban evolution is composed of two interlinked phenomena. Over time, changes occur in urban size as measured, for example, by population. The geographic space occupied by human activities and by buildings also changes over time. Those two aspects of urban evolution are linked and, as such, should be studied in tandem. In this paper we present an analysis of the process of formation of urban centers as a result of growth spurts and the structured behavior of individuals. We propose a dynamic model of the spatial self-organization of a town. The model yields descriptions of the temporal evolution of the urban population and of the space occupied by it. At the backdrop of the model is a particular conception of the behavior of land developers. The evolution of the town emerges from the juxtaposition of centripetal and centrifugal forces that represent the key elements in the developers' behavior. Through computer simulations, the model has been applied to Petah Tikvah, a small town in the Tel Aviv metropolis. The comparison between the simulations and the real town growth is very good.