The World Patches Live In (10 min)

Patches = Grid Squares That Make Up the World¶

Think of the NetLogo world as a grid of squares, like:

• Chessboard squares where pieces can move

• City blocks where people live and work

• Pixels on a screen that create an image

• Cells in a spreadsheet that hold information

Each square is called a patch and has:

• Coordinates: pxcor (x-position) and pycor (y-position)

• Color: pcolor (what color is this patch?)

• Custom properties: anything you define (temperature, resources, ownership, etc.)

Each Patch Has Properties (Color, Variables)¶

Built-in properties:

• pxcor and pycor - location coordinates

• pcolor - color of this patch

• plabel - text label on this patch

Custom properties you might add:

• temperature - how hot/cold is this location?

• resources - how much food/oil/wealth is here?

• population-density - how crowded is this area?

• pollution-level - how contaminated is this spot?

Environment Shapes Agent Behavior¶

The environment isn’t just decoration - it actively influences what agents do:

Examples:

• Foraging: Animals move toward resource-rich patches

• Urban planning: People prefer low-pollution, high-amenity areas

• Disease spread: Infection rates vary by population density

• Economic development: Businesses locate near transportation hubs