Cities follow universal rules like living organisms
Urban areas follow universal rules similar to natural systems, from population size to carbon emissions and road networks.
Why it matters
- Understanding how cities function could provide a blueprint for sustainable urbanization.
- The study suggests that cities exhibit self-organization as they grow.
By the numbers
- Data from more than 100 cities worldwide.
- Three key variables: urban population, carbon emissions, and road networks.
- Findings suggest universal laws govern urban form and functions.
The big picture
- Cities resemble living organisms rather than controllable machines.
- Planning should consider entire urban areas and their multi-scale behavior for sustainability.
- The study provides a new method to analyze urban characteristics by dividing cities into smaller units.
What they're saying
- Commenters note that the study is about scaling laws similar to Kleiber's law, not that cities act as organisms.
- Some suggest that more intraurban variables, especially transportation, should be considered.
Caveats
- Larger cities aren't necessarily more sustainable than smaller ones.
- The study focused on a few intraurban variables, and more research is needed.
What’s next
- Further research could include more variables and their temporal evolution to gain deeper insights into urban laws.