Dynamical systems of self-organized segregation

Abstract

We re-consider Schelling’s (1971) bounded neighborhood model as put into the form of a dynamical system by Haw and Hogan (2018). The aim is to determine how tolerance can prevent (or lead to) segregation. In the case of a single neighborhood, we explain the occurring bifurcation set, thereby correcting a scaling error. In the case of two neighborhoods, we correct a major error and derive a dynamical system that does satisfy the modeling assumptions made by Haw and Hogan (2020), staying as close as possible to their construction. We find that stable integration is then only possible if the populations in the two neighborhoods have the option to be in neither neighborhood. In the absence of direct movement between the neighborhoods, the problem is furthermore equivalent to independent single neighborhood problems.