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Abstract
Infrastructure in urban areas have become increasingly incapable of operating at its designed efficiency. This demand has been created by the growth in population generating a larger demand and strain on the existing infrastructure. To combat this growth, new and alternate approaches to infrastructure planning must be utilised as traditional development processes and methods proven limitations.
This thesis explores how through the biomimicry of Slime Molds (Physarum Polycephalum), infrastructure can be generated in relation to topographic analysis and user-generated data. The research could be utilised to create different modes of transport infrastructure, however for this thesis the primary mode specifically chosen were cycle pathways. This was due to the similarities that Slime Molds and cycling both share. The most significant similarities are the relationships between topography, effort, and safety. All of which directly reflects both the Slime Mold and the cyclists’ traversal needs.
Through a series of four iterative experimental chapters, a pathway generation system has been adapted from the behaviour of Slime Molds, particularly its ability to define optimised paths on a terrain. The first sprint outlines the design of a topographical framework in which the Slime Mold algorithm can grow on. The second utilises the topographical framework for pathway generation between two points, then applying that in a macro and micro urban scale (acknowledging both the existing infrastructure and cadastral). The third defines weight or effort limits for the pathways in order to suite realistic user-profiles (fitness level of cyclist groups). And the last sprint creates the start and end points for the pathway generation from user-generated data, testing the Slime Mold system in a `real world' context. Through the four experiments, a design tool has been created that can be used to not only create and analyse cycle pathways but tweaked for various other forms of tangible transport infrastructure.