Future Australians perplexed by the design of their cities might have ants to blame: "The movement of ants could help solve traffic jams and crowd congestion, Australian scientists say, and the findings could be used in future town planning systems."Indeed, we're told, "Humans could learn from ants about how to deal with... exiting large venues after concerts or sporting events." Eat grass, for instance, and dig lots of orderly holes.
Apparently, whilst being studied, "ants moved in an orderly fashion, and never seemed to panic, even when there was danger or congestion."
In any case: do ants offer interesting analogies and parallels for fields such as robotics? I'm sure they do.
But I have to admit I'm a bit skeptical when it comes to using ant behavior as a model for urban design; something tells me ants act like ants because they're ants, and that to rebuild our cities and streets so that the built environment responds best to those of us who might act like ants might be artistically fascinating – but perhaps a little foolish.
(Thanks, Steve! Previously on BLDGBLOG: Tracking Ants and Nest-casting. See also inhuman urbanism, animal urbanism, and simian urbanism).
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