Personal Space and Collective Behavior in Crowd Disasters
Igor Lugo
Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias (CRIM)
Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (UNAM)
Av. Universidad s/n, Circuito 2
Cuernavaca, Morelos, 62210, México
Martha G. Alatriste-Contreras
Facultad de Economía
Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (UNAM)
Circuito Escolar, C.U. Coyoacán
Ciudad de México, 04510, México
Abstract
The importance of personal space (PS) in densely crowded situations is commonly underestimated. However, self-awareness of PS can help prevent harm and reduce risky situations. This paper explores the use of PS as the key factor for designing simple computational models to prevent crushing events. An agent-based model is developed to relate transitional rules with Schelling’s spatial proximity model of segregation. An exploratory data analysis and subsequent model validation find that the dynamics of crowd events associated only with the individual perception of PS show significant statistical regularities between density situations. These results suggest that crushing events in densely crowded situations are highly probable and that lower density levels are key for delaying the onset of such disasters.
Keywords: personal space; collective behavior; crowd disasters; complex systems; agent-based model; Schelling’s spatial model; cellular automata; data analysis
Cite this publication as:
I. Lugo and M. G. Alatriste-Contreras, “Personal Space and Collective Behavior in Crowd Disasters,” Complex Systems, 35(3), 2026 pp. 237–265.
https://doi.org/10.25088/ComplexSystems.35.3.237
