Gaming simulation: a tool for empower social scale-free networks. Some reflections on the impact in urban planning

Urban Gaming-Simulation stands as an alternative method to forecasting
techniques and large-scale territorial models that in the ‘70s got in crisis. But in the
early ‘80s UGSs got in crisis themselves because of the decline of algorithmic models
of social systems. By the end of ‘90s sciences of complex networks puts more attention
and give more persuasive mathematical explanation on such phenomenon called
“small-world” and on the properties of scale-free networks.
The paper discusses the application of small-world model and scale-free networks
concepts in urban planning describing also two examples. Conclusions, by a vision of
the urban environment as a genetic system based on complex social relationships,
starts a reflection on how is possible to replace old social model in UGS by the
small-world model tuning the overall with scale-free networks properties.