Emergence, What Is It?

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Michael Batty
A complex system is often defined as ‘emergent’ when some process generates unexpected, surprising and ordered outcomes. The classic exemplar is segregation in Schelling’s model. But there is strong, weak, first order, second order emergence. Click to read Nigel Gilbert’s paper (2MB) and watch this video.
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Ranks of Flows: Network Scaling

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Michael Batty
The TfL Oyster Card Tube and Train flow volumes over 24 hrs at 666 (don’t worry about the number) hubs reveal classic diurnal peaks but the profiles are far from power laws. If anything, they are lognormal. Watch the Vimeo Clip. See the SIMULACRA blog.
Posted in Flows, Fluxes, Networks, Social Physics, Transport, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Flux by Broken Cities

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Michael Batty
Bit of an experiment really as it is the weekend. Thought I would embed some background music into the website and the album Flux from the indie group Broken Cities reflects the themes of a Science of Cities. And the music is under a Creative Commons license and it is all free. Enjoy and reflect.
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The Heartbeat of the City

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Michael Batty
Inspired by Victor Gruen’s heart of the city posted here a little while ago, Jon Reade’s 24 hour movie of traffic on London’s railways (tube+overground) moves us a little closer to Leonardo’s analogy of the city as body. More biology perhaps than physics but a grand portrayal of the life blood of a complex system.
Posted in Flows, Fluxes, Networks, Transport | Leave a comment

How Big Can a City Get?

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Michael Batty
This question was rarely asked in the 20th century where the focus was on optimum city size. Now cities seemingly can grow forever but as Dobbs and Remes of McKinsey say, as they grow, cities become more ‘complex’. Managing this complexity is ever more difficult. An open-ended question.
Posted in Complex Systems, Urban Dynamics, Urban Growth | Comments Off on How Big Can a City Get?