Author Archives: Michael Batty

About Michael Batty

I chair CASA at UCL which I set up in 1995. I am Bartlett Professor In UCL.

What Is Social Physics?

Several previous posts suggest that our Science of Cities is more like Biology than Physics but Social Physics has a long history. CASA’s Martin Austwick recently gave an impromptu review from Quetelet’s original definition to Comte’s rebuttal. Useful definitions from Stewart … Continue reading

Posted in Scaling, Social Physics | Leave a comment

Network Science, A Guide

A science of cities is rooted in networks that deliver energy and information to the components that make up a functioning urban system. This one page guide takes you to the key sites, people, books, papers, data and software associated … Continue reading

Posted in Morphology, Networks, Transport | Leave a comment

Past Glimpses of Chaos, Complexity and Tipping Points

Great Talk by Paul Ormerod at Durham on Tipping Points in Financial Systems, quoting Keynes in 1937 who said: “Actually, however, we have, as a rule, only the vaguest idea of any but the most direct consequences of our acts.” Read … Continue reading

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The Urban Systems Collaborative

The Urban Systems Collaborative has just launched its blog – ideas about where a science of cities meets planning practice will emerge from this site. Note the focus on Smart Cities, Intelligent Cities, Paul Romer on Charter Cities. Good summary … Continue reading

Posted in Complex Systems, Smart Cities | Leave a comment

On Complexity

Nobel Prize Winner Herbert Simon said, in one of his last contributions: “The theory of complex systems is perhaps going to look more like biology, with its myriad of species and of proteins, than physics, with its overreaching generalizations.” Excellent … Continue reading

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