Macroscopic first order models of multicomponent human crowds with behavioral dynamics

This paper presents a new approach to the behavioral dynamics of human crowds. Macroscopic first order models are derived based on mass conservation at the macroscopic scale,while methods of the kinetic theory are used to model the decisional process by which walkers select their velocity direction. The present approach is applied to describe the dynamics of a homogeneous crowd in venues with complex geometries. Numerical results are obtained using a finite volume method on unstructured grids. Our results visualize the predictive ability of the model. Solutions for heterogeneous crowd can be obtained by the same technique where crowd heterogeneity is modeled by dividing the whole system into subsystems identified by different features. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement Number 313161 (EVACUATE). Project title: “A holistic,scenario independent,situation-awareness and guidance system for sustaining the Active Evacuation Route for large crowds.” This publication reflects the views only of the authors,and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.