Navigating through a crowded space can be a puzzling experience. In a busy hallway, people often line up as if by magic, while in an open area, they seem to scatter in every direction. What causes this difference in how we move in crowds?
Karol Bacik, a mathematician from MIT, and his team have been studying this. They’ve developed a mathematical theory that predicts how crowds behave, especially when they shift from organized lanes to chaotic movement. Their findings were published in PNAS on March 24, 2023. This research could help architects and planners create safer public spaces.
Using principles from fluid dynamics, they simulated crowd movement in different environments. Bacik explained, “If you think about the crowd as a flowing liquid, you can observe how it behaves without needing to know the individual movements of every person.”
Key to their study was a concept called "angular spread," which refers to how people move in various directions. The team discovered that in narrow spaces, like hallways, individuals tend to form orderly lanes. In contrast, in large, open areas, such as airports, diverse travel directions can lead to disorder, as pedestrians zigzag to reach their destinations.
Their research found that a crowd maintains order until the angle of movement exceeds around 13 degrees. Once this tipping point is crossed, lanes break down, and the flow turns chaotic. Bacik pointed out, “It seems obvious, but now we can quantify when organized movement becomes inefficient and potentially unsafe.”
To validate their theory, the researchers conducted an experiment with volunteers in a gymnasium. Each participant wore a hat with a barcode, representing different starting and ending points. They tried to walk across without colliding with one another, while a camera captured their movements. The team found that as the crowd’s angular spread increased, order diminished, leading to a significant slowdown—about 30% slower in disordered crowds compared to organized lanes.
The implications of this research are significant. Bacik and his team plan to test their findings in real-world environments, such as busy streets and public events. Their hope is to provide architects and planners with guidelines for designing spaces that promote safe, efficient pedestrian flow.
As we move forward, understanding crowd dynamics can help us create environments that are not only functional but also enhance safety for everyone. This research is a step toward making our public spaces work better for us all.
For more on crowd dynamics and urban planning, check out resources from the MIT Department of Mathematics and the latest in urban design strategies from credible publications like The World Economic Forum that focus on improving public spaces.
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