A Schelling model with switching agents: decreasing segregation via random allocation and social mobility

TL;DR

This paper explores a modified Schelling model incorporating switching agents, demonstrating how their presence can reduce segregation and lead to diverse spatial patterns through random allocation and social mobility.

Contribution

It introduces a Schelling model with switching agents, revealing how their inclusion affects segregation patterns and phase transitions in spatial configurations.

Findings

Presence of switching agents leads to intermediate mixed patterns.

Transitions between segregated and mixed phases depend on the fraction of switching agents.

Different types of phase transitions are observed as the fraction of switching agents varies.

Abstract

We study the behaviour of a Schelling-class system in which a fraction $f$ of spatially-fixed switching agents is introduced. This new model allows for multiple interpretations, including: (i) random, non-preferential allocation (\textit{e.g.} by housing associations) of given, fixed sites in an open residential system, and (ii) superimposition of social and spatial mobility in a closed residential system.\\ We find that the presence of switching agents in a segregative Schelling-type dynamics can lead to the emergence of intermediate patterns (\textit{e.g.} mixture of patches, fuzzy interfaces) as the ones described in Ref. 1. We also investigate different transitions between segregated and mixed phases both at $f=0$ and along lines of increasing $f$, where the nature of the transition changes.