A Co-Evolution Model of Planning Space and Self-Built Space for Compact Settlements in Rural China

Abstract

The process of compact development of rural settlements in the North China Plain is influenced by centralised control of planning spaces and a deficiency of self-built spaces, thereby resulting in a crisis of spatial characteristics. This essay considers the mutually driving effects of top-down planning spaces and bottom-up self-built spaces as well as the corresponding dynamic mechanisms of unified construction and self-help construction formed in spatial system evolution. The goal is to explore a method applicable for the organisation, evolution and generation of compact rural settlements. Furthermore, the essay defines generative rules governing planning and self-built spaces in spatio-temporal evolution for a model applicable to rural settlements. It is a co-evolution model accompanied by suitable algorithms and codes so that initial information and relevant rules can be inputted in Python. Automatically generated spatial data are outputted to visual software for generative design.