Modeling of urban post-disaster reconstruction using extended cellular automata

Abstract

A city is the symbol of human beings civilization. A sudden natural disaster may let this thousand-of-years civilization be destroyed in a minute, so the post-disaster reconstruction is an inevitable task of human encounter. Based on the dynamic mechanism for urban reconstruction and the features of city renewal, we presented the principle and technical procedures for constructing an extended cellular automata (CA) reconstruction model, used the model to simulate and analyze the extended urban post-disaster reconstruction of Great Tangshan, and made a comparison with the city's status and overall planning results. The model considered the overall interacting relationship among spatial elements affecting cellular transition rules. These elements include policy and planning, cellular desire (demand), population, degree of destruction and so on. The simulation results show that the CA model can predict the direction of urban development and reconstruction, and provide theoretical basis for authorities to effectively make the land management rules and policies in urban post-disaster reconstruction. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.