Collective dynamics of pedestrians interacting with attractions

TL;DR

This paper extends the social force model to study how pedestrians interact with attractions, revealing various collective movement patterns and phase transitions that inform safer and more efficient pedestrian area management.

Contribution

It introduces an extended social force model capturing pedestrian-attraction interactions and systematically analyzes resulting collective behaviors and phase transitions.

Findings

Pedestrians form stable clusters around attractions.

High density and intermediate attraction strength cause mixed movement patterns.

Phase diagram maps different collective states and transitions.

Abstract

In order to investigate collective effects of interactions between pedestrians and attractions, this study extends the social force model. Such interactions lead pedestrians to form stable clusters around attractions, or even to rush into attractions if the interaction becomes stronger. It is also found that for high pedestrian density and intermediate interaction strength, some pedestrians rush into attractions while others move to neighboring attractions. These collective patterns of pedestrian movements or phases and transitions between them are systematically presented in a phase diagram. The results suggest that safe and efficient use of pedestrian areas can be achieved by moderating the pedestrian density and the strength of attractive interaction, for example, in order to avoid situations involving extreme desire for limited resources.