Cities Obey the Laws of Living Things
3 days ago
- #sustainability
- #urban planning
- #biology
- Cities are compared to living organisms with predictable principles similar to animal biology.
- Bigger cities are not necessarily more sustainable, challenging the 'bigger is better' assumption.
- Researchers used 'pixels' to compare 100 cities globally, finding a scaling law linking population size to transport, economy, and CO2 emissions.
- The scaling law mirrors Kleiber’s Law in biology, which relates animal size to metabolic rate.
- Cities self-organize as they grow, optimizing energy flow and resource distribution without central planning.
- The findings could help urban planners design more sustainable cities by applying biological principles.