A unified framework for Schelling's model of segregation

TL;DR

This paper develops a unified mathematical framework for Schelling's segregation model, enabling better understanding of its variants and underlying phenomena through analytical approaches.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analytical framework that unifies various Schelling model variants, facilitating comparison and deeper insight into segregation dynamics.

Findings

Framework clarifies differences between model variants

Analytical methods reveal common phenomena across models

Simplified models help understand complex segregation patterns

Abstract

Schelling's model of segregation is one of the first and most influential models in the field of social simulation. There are many variations of the model which have been proposed and simulated over the last forty years, though the present state of the literature on the subject is somewhat fragmented and lacking comprehensive analytical treatments. In this article a unified mathematical framework for Schelling's model and its many variants is developed. This methodology is useful in two regards: firstly, it provides a tool with which to understand the differences observed between models; secondly, phenomena which appear in several model variations may be understood in more depth through analytic studies of simpler versions.