An Introduction to

Cellular Automata
Benenson/Torrens (2004)
Chapter 4

GEOG 220 / 2-7-2005
Philipp Schneider
Why CA?
Because they
are great tea
pot warmers
Overview
History of CA
Formal definition of
CA
Related ideas
Complex System
Theory and CA
Dynamics
Urban CA Modeling

History of Urban CA models
Based on two ideas
Raster conceptualization of space
(late 1950s)
Regional modeling of flows of
population, goods, jobs etc. (1960s
and 1970s)
CA paradigm needed departure
from ideas of comprehensive
modeling a la Forrester
In late 1980s, geographers
began to introduce CA ideas in
urban modeling
Nowadays, CA seem to have a
bad reputation in mathematics,
physics etc. (Do not mention
CA in your CV!)

Invention of CA
Invented by John von Neumann
and Stanislaw Ulam at Los
Alamos National Lab (early
1950s)
Based on work by Alan Turing
Most basic research on CA in
the 1950s and 60s
Three major events in CA
research
John von Neumanns self-
reproducing automaton
John Conways Game of Life
Stephen Wolframs classification
of cellular automata
CA Definition
General
A system made up of many discrete cells, each of which may be in
one of a finite number of states. A cell or automaton may change state
only at fixed, regular intervals, and only in accordance with fixed rules
that depend on cells own values and the values of neighbors within a
certain proximity.

Formal definition
CA = one- or two-dimensional grid of identical automata cells
Each cell processes information and proceeds in its actions
depending on its neighbors
Each cell (automaton) A defined by
Set of States S = {S
1
, S
2
, S
3
, , S
N
}
Transition Rules T
Therefore A ~ (S,T,R) (R: neighboring automata)
T: (S
t
, I
t
) S
t+1

Neighborhood configurations
In classic Cellular Automata theory there
are three types of neighborhoods
Differ in shape and size
Other configurations have been proposed
but were not accepted
Markov Processes/Fields
From deterministic to
stochastic
Each cellular automaton can
be considered as a stochastic
system
Transition rules based on
probabilities
Similar to CA but transition
rules are substituted by a
matrix of transition
probabilities P
N N N
N
N
ij
p p
p p p
p p p
p
, 1 ,
, 2 2 , 2 1 , 2
, 1 2 , 1 1 , 1

= = P
( )
ij j i
p S S = Prob

=
j
ij
p 1
( ) ( ) ( ) C N p S S
ij j i
=
C
Prob
CA and Complex System Theory
Game of life
Developed by
John H. Conway in
1970
Simple rules
complex behavior
Rules
Survival: 2 or 3
live neighbors
Birth: exactly 3
live neighbors
Death: all other
cases

http://www.math.com/studen
ts/wonders/life/life.html
CA Dynamics
Wolframs Classification of
1-D CA behavior
1. Spatially stable
2. Sequence of stable or
periodic structures
3. Chaotic aperiodic behavior
4. Complicated localized
structures
Wolframs classification
most popular
Problem: Class
membership of a given
rule is undecidable


Variations of Classic CA
Grid geometry & Neighborhood
Hexagonal, triangular and
irregular grids
Larger or more complicated
neighborhoods
generally do not introduce any
significant effect
Synchronous and
asynchronous CA
Sequential update
Parallel update
In general, asynchronously
updated CA produce simpler
results
Combination of CA with
differential equations (classical
modeling)
Urban Cellular Automata
There were a few
publications about CA
in geography in the
1970s but they were
mainly disregarded
CA matured as a
research tool toward
the end of the 1980s
Transition began with
raster models that
did not account for
neighborhood
relationships

Raster but not CA
Raster models possess all characteristics
features
Use of cellular space
Cells characterized by state
Models are dynamic
BUT: They lack dependence of cell state
on states of neighboring cells
Examples
Simulation of urban development in
Greensboro, North Carolina
Buffalo metropolitan area
Harvard School of Designs Boston model
Beginning of Urban CA
Waldo Tobler (1979) took the last step from raster models
to urban CA simulation by introducing a linear transition
function
Was not accepted by geographic community at first
Helen Couclelis (1985) recalled Toblers work
CA modeling got accepted by the geographic research
community at the end of the 1980s many conceptual
papers
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( )
| | | |

s + e e
+ +
+ +
=
= A +
1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1
,
1 , 1 , , 1 , 1
, , , ,
q p q p
q j p i pq
j i j i j i j i ij ij
t g w
t g t g t g t g t g F t t g
Constrained CA
Extension of original CA idea
Introduced in 1993 by White
and Engelen (Constrained
CA model of land-use
dynamics)
Mainstream CA application in
geography during the 1990s
Expansion of the standard
neighborhoods to 113 cells
Uses the potential of
transition
Three steps
Potentials of transition
estimated for each cell
Obtained potential sorted
decreasingly for each cell
Externally defined amount of
land distributed over cells
with highest potential
Fuzzy CA models
Integration of fuzzy set theory
Based on continuous class membership
functions
Transition rules describe laws for updating
characteristics based on membership functions
( ) | | { } X x x x U
U
e e = | 1 , 0 ,
( )

s
s s

s
=
p for p
p p for p
p p
p p
p for p
p
U
max
max min
min max
min
min
1
0

Conclusions
CA have been around since 1950
Geography was hesitant to adopt CA as an urban modeling
technique (didnt happen before the mid-1980s
Since then, many extensions of CA have been proposed,
some effective, others not
Nowadays CA are a valuable tool for spatially distributed
modeling with many applications (urban growth, wildfire
spread, transportation)