Toward a mathematical theory of behavioral-social dynamics for pedestrian crowds

This paper presents a new approach to behavioral-social dynamics for pedestrian crowds by suitable development of mathematical tools of the kinetic theory. It is shown how pedestrians heterogeneity and the propagation of local unusual behaviors in the crowd can be accounted for. The proposed model is applied to the study of two groups of pedestrians walking in opposite directions in a crowded street and its predictive ability is demonstrated by showing that emerging behaviors, such as pedestrian segregation, can be depicted.