The Self-aware City
by Andres Sevtsuk
Submitted to the Department of Architecture in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Architectural Studies
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 2006
© 2006 Andres Sevtsuk. All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This thesis explores the idea of real-time urban space management. While increasing amounts of real-time information about the city, specifically the location of people and resources, appear, it becomes necessary to explore how different strategies of distributing real-time location information can be used as urban design tools for a more sustainable resource allocation.
I focus on the study of street-parking, a system that clearly has a market situation with demand and supply, but due to lack of information is poorly managed today. I argue that an equilibrium state of the parking market, similar to many other urban space markets, is a constant over demand. The important challenges are therefore optimizing allocation and managing queuing. I propose five different strategies of using real-time location information to reduce search times and analyze the system through computer simulations and logic. Borrowing ideas from Game Theory, I try to illustrate how collaborative behavior between drivers could yield most efficient results from both the individual and the group point of view. Lastly, I outline some challenges that the use of real-time information systems introduce to the realm of urban design in general.
Thesis supervisor: William J. Mitchell
Professor of Architecture and Media Arts & Sciences, MIT
Parking Simulations:
(source codes to all simulations are under the title link)
1. Traditional Model......................................................
2. Intel_1 Mode..........................................................
3. Intel_3 Model ....................................
4. Intel_5 Model.....................................
5. Intel_7 Model......
Optimal Meeting Point Simulations:
1. Sum of Individual Meetings ...........................
2. Group Meeting....................................................
