# Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation

Source: [Urban characteristics attributable to density-driven tie formation](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa2c6c1e209131ce84fe4c>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-28T13:53:17.941Z

Authors: Wei Pan, Gourab Ghoshal, Coco Krumme, Manuel Cebrian, Alex Pentland

Published: 2012-10-22T21:10:25.000Z

## Abstract

Motivated by empirical evidence on the interplay between geography, population density and societal interaction, we propose a generative process for the evolution of social structure in cities. Our analytical and simulation results predict both super-linear scaling of social tie density and information flow as a function of the population. We demonstrate that our model provides a robust and accurate fit for the dependency of city characteristics with city size, ranging from individual-level dyadic interactions (number of acquaintances, volume of communication) to population-level variables (contagious disease rates, patenting activity, economic productivity and crime) without the need to appeal to modularity, specialization, or hierarchy.

## Recorded benchmark results

A research result applies to its stated dataset, split, metric and evaluation configuration. Compare like-for-like settings, preserve the metric's unit and direction, and distinguish paper-reported results from independent reproduction. The best result recorded here is not a claim of exhaustive, current global coverage.

## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1210.6070>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.6070.pdf>)