Shape and efficiency in spatial distribution networks

Abstract

We study spatial networks that are designed to distribute or collect a commodity, such as gas pipelines or train tracks. We focus on the cost of a network, as represented by the total length of all its edges, and its efficiency in terms of the directness of routes from point to point. Using data for several real-world examples, we find that distribution networks appear remarkably close to optimal where both these properties are concerned. We propose two models of network growth that offer explanations of how this situation might arise.

5 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (9)

• Statistical mechanics of complex networks
• The structure and function of complex networks
• Evolution of networks
• The worldwide air transportation network: Anomalous centrality, community structure, and cities' global roles
• Modeling the Internet's Large-Scale Topology
• The spatial structure of networks
• Spatial Growth of Real-world Networks
• Small-worlds: How and why
• The fractal/small-world dichotomy in real-world networks

Cited by in corpus (24)

• Spatial Networks
• Social physics
• Layered Complex Networks
• Complex network analysis of water distribution systems
• Trainspotting: Extraction and Analysis of Traffic and Topologies of Transportation Networks
• Robustness of Trans-European Gas Networks
• Emergence of core-peripheries in networks
• Urban road networks -- Spatial networks with universal geometric features? A case study on Germany's largest cities
• Emergence of hierarchy in cost driven growth of spatial networks
• Connected Spatial Networks over Random Points and a Route-Length Statistic
• Characterisation of spatial network-like patterns from junctions' geometry
• Architecture of the Florida Power Grid as a Complex Network
• Generating Synthetic Systems of Interdependent Critical Infrastructure Networks
• Robustness of Spatial Micronetworks
• A growth model for water distribution networks with loops
• Fair sharing of resources in a supply network with constraints
• Balancing building and maintenance costs in growing transport networks
• Optimal spatial transportation networks where link-costs are sublinear in link-capacity
• Comparing spatial networks: A 'one size fits all' efficiency-driven approach
• Emergence, self-organization and network efficiency in gigantic termite-nest-networks build using simple rules
• Spatial Strength Centrality and the Effect of Spatial Embeddings on Network Architecture
• Imbalance of pairwise efficiency in urban street network
• The simplicity of planar networks
• A model for the generation of road networks