Fig. 1.

Biasing forces found in urban morphology. Three schematic urban street arrangements share similar topological structure, but different geometric layouts resulting in varying dynamics. a A grid structure where the shortest paths between points at the same radius show no directional bias. b Repulsive forces relative to the origin (marked in blue) emerge as we break the grid symmetry by relocating the four outer points on the inner equidistant ring line. Paths lying on this ring now have the shortest paths that traverse the periphery and avoid the center. c Further perturbing the topology by increasing connectivity to the center (marked as four green lines) now leads to shortest paths that go through the center as if an attractive force is present (marked in red)