Modeling collective human mobility: Understanding exponential law of intra-urban movement

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new model for collective urban human mobility that explains the exponential distance law as a consequence of decreasing travel demand density, applicable across various spatial scales.

Contribution

A novel model linking urban structure and travel demand to the exponential law of intra-urban movement, extending predictions to larger geographic scales.

Findings

Exponential law of distance distribution is due to decreasing travel demand density.

Urban planning and population distribution influence travel demand patterns.

The model applies to intra-city and larger-scale human mobility prediction.

Abstract

It is very important to understand urban mobility patterns because most trips are concentrated in urban areas. In the paper, a new model is proposed to model collective human mobility in urban areas. The model can be applied to predict individual flows not only in intra-city but also in countries or a larger range. Based on the model, it can be concluded that the exponential law of distance distribution is attributed to decreasing exponentially of average density of human travel demands. Since the distribution of human travel demands only depends on urban planning, population distribution, regional functions and so on, it illustrates that these inherent properties of cities are impetus to drive collective human movements.