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Main Authors: Wu, Peiru, Zhai, Maojun, Zhang, Lingzhu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.00768
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author Wu, Peiru
Zhai, Maojun
Zhang, Lingzhu
author_facet Wu, Peiru
Zhai, Maojun
Zhang, Lingzhu
contents Measuring similarity in urban spatial networks is key to understanding cities as complex systems. Yet most existing methods are not tailored for spatial networks and struggle to differentiate them effectively. We propose GCA-Sim, a similarity-evaluation framework based on graph cellular automata. Each submodel measures similarity by the divergence between value distributions recorded at multiple stages of an information evolution process. We find that some propagation rules magnify differences among network signals; we call this "network resonance." With an improved differentiable logic-gate network, we learn several submodels that induce network resonance. We evaluate similarity through clustering performance on fifty city-level and fifty district-level road networks. The submodels in this framework outperform existing methods, with Silhouette scores above 0.9. Using the best submodel, we further observe that planning-led street networks are less internally homogeneous than organically grown ones; morphological categories from different domains contribute with comparable importance; and degree, as a basic topological signal, becomes increasingly aligned with land value and related variables over iterations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_00768
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Framework Based on Graph Cellular Automata for Similarity Evaluation in Urban Spatial Networks
Wu, Peiru
Zhai, Maojun
Zhang, Lingzhu
Social and Information Networks
Machine Learning
Measuring similarity in urban spatial networks is key to understanding cities as complex systems. Yet most existing methods are not tailored for spatial networks and struggle to differentiate them effectively. We propose GCA-Sim, a similarity-evaluation framework based on graph cellular automata. Each submodel measures similarity by the divergence between value distributions recorded at multiple stages of an information evolution process. We find that some propagation rules magnify differences among network signals; we call this "network resonance." With an improved differentiable logic-gate network, we learn several submodels that induce network resonance. We evaluate similarity through clustering performance on fifty city-level and fifty district-level road networks. The submodels in this framework outperform existing methods, with Silhouette scores above 0.9. Using the best submodel, we further observe that planning-led street networks are less internally homogeneous than organically grown ones; morphological categories from different domains contribute with comparable importance; and degree, as a basic topological signal, becomes increasingly aligned with land value and related variables over iterations.
title A Framework Based on Graph Cellular Automata for Similarity Evaluation in Urban Spatial Networks
topic Social and Information Networks
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.00768