Social groups in pedestrian crowds: review of their influence on the dynamics and their modelling

Abstract

Pedestrians are often encountered walking in the company of some social relations, rather than alone. The social groups thus formed, in variable proportions depending on the context, are not randomly organised but exhibit distinct features, such as the well-known tendency of 3-member groups to be arranged in a V-shape. The existence of group structures is thus likely to impact the collective dynamics of the crowd, possibly in a critical way when emergency situations are considered. After turning a blind eye to these group aspects for years, endeavours to model groups in crowd simulation software have thrived in the past decades. This fairly short review opens on a description of their empirical characteristics and their impact on the global flow. Then, it aims to offer a pedagogical discussion of the main strategies to model such groups, within different types of models, in order to provide guidance for prospective modellers.

Physics of Human Crowds

“…These different groups, having different objectives, will display different behaviors (e.g., walking at different speeds), being more or less familiar with the environment. Social group dynamics is also extremely relevant to quantitatively understand the dynamics of crowds, as it is estimated that around 70% of pedestrians in a crowd are in social groups (68,69). Ownership in a social group can significantly alter the dynamics of an individual pedestrian.…”

Modeling of crowd groups with an extended social field model

“…Santos and Aguirre [34] holds a discussion of group structures and mentions that the flow and evacuation efficiency in emergencies might be affected by different group structures. Nicolas and Hassan [35] reviewed social groups' influences on crowd dynamics and their modeling. In [36], Templeton et al reviewed modeling of crowd collective behaviors from the viewpoint of psychology.…”

How to Raise the Check-in Efficiency at an Airport Terminal: A Route Guidance Strategy

“…The passenger's group behavior was studied in the field of pedestrian dynamics [26], so we can consider this behavior if using the SF model to describe the passenger's motion during the check-in process. However, as for the passengers in each group, contrary to the repulsive force among pedestrians, the attractive force among the passengers is to keep them at a distance of 1 m [27].…”