Schelling Segregation Model

About: Thomas Schelling (1971, Nobel Prize 2005) showed that a simple agent-based model generates striking macro-segregation from mild micro-preferences. Each agent on the grid has a type (orange or blue) and will move to a random empty cell if fewer than T% of its neighbors share its type. Even at T=30% (agents happy with just 3/8 same-type neighbors), the system self-organizes into large homogeneous clusters. This demonstrates that observed social segregation need not reflect strong intolerance — weak preferences plus local dynamics produce strongly segregated equilibria. The model is a canonical example of emergence and complexity in social science.