Complex Urban Systems

Catalog description

Despite occupying only a tiny fraction of the world's area, cities house over half of earth's human population, consume over two thirds of global energy, and emit over 70% of global CO2 emissions. It is estimated that the combined ecological footprint of earth's urban areas already exceeds the entire area of our planet, and still globally 3 million more people migrate to cities every week. Cities are also the global engines of innovation, wealth creation, and production efficiencies. Thus, cities are both drivers of unsustainable behavior and our best hope for innovating sustainable solutions. Examines key concepts for understanding the complexity of urban systems, and explores how methods drawn from complexity science can be applied to urban structures and dynamics to better understand both past and future outcomes. Shows how complexity science might contribute to relevant policy and governance of cities and whether such a contribution is advisable.