1st Edition
Urban Scaling Allometry in Urban Studies and Spatial Science
List of figures xi
List of tables xxi
List of contributors xxiii
PART I
Introduction and state of the art
1
1 Urban scaling: a primer on size, scale, and shape 3
M I C H A E L B AT T Y
2 Empirical overview of urban scaling: urban allometry origins, critics and city performance evaluations 18
LUCA S. D’ACCI
3 Scaling laws and urban systems 28
D E N I S E P U M A I N
4 Urban transitions: scaling complex cities down to human size 36
F R A N K S C H I L L E R
PART II
Socio- economic
43
5 Economic trajectories of cities and scaling laws 45
FA B I E N PA U L U S , D E N I S E P U M A I N , A N D C É L I N E VA C C H I A N I - M A R C U Z Z O
6 How urban allometry emerges from economic complexity and cultural evolution 53
A N D R E S G O M E Z - L I E VA N O , O S C A R PAT T E R S O N - L O M B A , A N D R I C A R D O H A U S M A N N
7 Explaining the socio- economic output of urban regions with a model combining urban scaling and polycentricity 63
A M I N K H I A L I - M I A B , A D R I E N N E G R Ê T- R E G A M E Y, K AY W. A X H A U S E N , A N D M A A RT E N J . VA N S T R I E N
8 Comparing cities of different sizes with scale- adjusted metrics 71
H A R O L D O V. R I B E I R O , L U I Z G . A . A LV E S , E RV I N K L E N Z I , FA B I A N O L . R I B E I R O , A N D R E N I O S . M E N D E S
9 Connection between Zipf’s law and urban scaling 81
H A R O L D O V. R I B E I R O , L U I Z G . A . A LV E S , E RV I N K L E N Z I , FA B I A N O L . R I B E I R O , A N D R E N I O S . M E N D E S
10 Density scaling laws and rural- to- urban transitions 98
H A R O L D O V. R I B E I R O , J A C K S U T T O N , A N D Q U E N T I N S . H A N L E Y
11 Exploring socio- economic inequalities in cities through the lens of urban scaling 111
S O M W R I TA S A R K A R
12 Scaling in Indian cities 118
A N A N D S A H A S R A N A M A N A N D L U Í S M. A . B E T T E N C O U RT
13 Urban allometries in archaeology: the Social Reactors Project 126
S C O T T G . O RT M A N , J O S É L O B O , A N D M I C H A E L E. S M I T H
14 Socio- economic strength and governance: influence of the number of municipalities in an urban agglomeration 134
A N T H O N Y F. J . VA N R A A N
15 Regional and sectorial diversity of employment urban scaling 142
A N T H O N Y F. J . VA N R A A N
16 The non- causal scaling of health indicators and city size 152
L U I S E . C . R O C H A , FAT E M E H Z A R E I , A N D R U I X U E J I N G
17 A framework of multi- scaling allometric analysis for city development 161
YA N G U A N G C H E N
18 Urban scaling law of the COVID- 19 epidemic in the United Kingdom 171
G A N G X U , S I Y U A N Z H A N G , A N D L I M I N J I A O
19 Scaling of urban income inequality in the USA 179
E L I S A H E I N R I C H M O R A , V I C K Y C H U Q I A O YA N G , A N D CH R I S T O P H E R P. K E M P E S
20 Mathematical model explaining variations in urban scaling exponents 187
V I C K Y C H U Q I A O YA N G
21 Characteristics and mechanisms of urban scaling in rapidly urbanizing China 195
L I M I N J I A O , W E I Q I A N L E I , A N D G A N G X U
PART III
Environment
209
22 Urban carbon dioxide emissions and the roles of population, area, and density 211
H A R O L D O V. R I B E I R O A N D D I E G O RY B S K I
23 The impacts of urbanisation and travel behaviour on transport CO2 emissions: from scaling relations to urban sustainability 226
N A H I D M O H A J E R I A N D A G U S T G U D M U N D S S O N
PART IV
Infrastructure
235
24 Allometric relations between structural fractal dimensions of road networks and urban quantities 237
T I A N L A N , Z H I L I N L I , A N D H O N G Z H A N G
25 The scaling of urban land and density profiles: empirical facts and theory 246
G E O F F R E Y C A R U S O , PA U L K I L G A R R I F F, J U S T I N D E L L O Y E , A N D R É M I L E M O Y
26 Active population and spatial scaling laws within cities 257
R U I Q I L I A N D J I A N G Z H A N G
27 Scaling laws in human mobility 268
TA O Z H O U
28 Geographical space based on urban allometry and fractal dimension 274
YA N G U A N G C H E N
29 Spatial allometric scaling of cities based on variable urban boundaries 288
YA N G U A N G C H E N
30 The allometry of urban configuration: scaling evidence from a Latin American city system 301
G U S TAV O A . O VA N D O - M O N T E J O , P E T E R K E D R O N , A N D A M Y E . F R A Z I E R
31 Capturing urban scaling laws via spatio- temporal correlated clusters 310
A N N A C A R B O N E , S É R G I O L U I Z D A S I LVA , A N D G I O R G I O KA N I A D A K I S
PART V
Conclusion: regional economics, science and policy
325
32 Bridging scaling with agglomeration economies 327
F R A N K G . VA N O O RT
Index 334
Biography
Luca S. D'Acci is Associate Professor at the Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning (DIST), Politecnico di Torino, Italy; Honorary Fellow at the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; and affiliated to The Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation (EHERO), Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Netherlands.
“Cities are unique among all biological and socio- economic organisms. They are the one organism whose metabolism speeds up as they grow larger in size. That is a key insight from the theory of urban scaling – that cities scale superlinearly. In this edited collection, Luca Sebastiano D’Acci brings together some 60 leading international scholars in the field that apply the techniques and insights from the growing field of urban scaling to critical issues around global population growth, urbanization, and the future of global cities. Must reading for all interested in this growing crucial field.”
Professor Richard Florida
, University of Toronto; author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The New Urban Crisis
“Once considered a curiosity, scaling laws are now known to be a fundamental emergent property of self- organized systems, and in particular of urban and regional systems. As a result, in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the scaling phenomenon as its usefulness both in understanding urban processes and in testing and validating models of these processes has become apparent. This volume brings together contributions by many of the most important researchers currently working in the field. It is therefore an essential resource for anyone interested in this increasingly important subject.”
Professor Roger W. White
, Memorial University of Newfoundland; author of Modeling Cities and Regions as Complex Systems: From Theory to Applications
“This book provides a definitive set of papers from internationally leading researchers on the application of spatial science to urban areas, focusing on the fundamental issue of scaling. Different perspectives are presented covering the range of methods developed to understanding urban allometry and the dynamics of city development. It chronicles the development of urban scaling over the last 70 years, taking examples from cities across the globe, together with more detailed thematic analysis of its impacts on economics, inequality and health. A wealth of knowledge is assembled in the 32 chapters, and the book provides an authoritative contribution to our understanding of cities.”
Professor David Banister
, University of Oxford
“Understanding cities, being a highly complex system- of- systems, is one of life’s great challenges. Civil engineers are charged with supporting civilised life by providing constructed environments that work synergistically with the natural environment, and for this they need a rigorously garnered understanding of the nature and operation of these systems and their interdependencies. Urban scaling is a critical element of this understanding and one which this remarkable collection of perspectives uniquely provides. This book therefore provides a profound contribution to the literature and a foundation on which all urban professionals can build.”
Professor Christopher D.F. Rogers
, University of Birmingham
“What we need is a theory or theories that tie all these different scaling relations together. [...] Glimpses of this theory are contained in the pages of this book and collectively they point to a greater understanding of how scaling can be used to define ways in which we can develop more sustainable and robust approaches to the design of better cities”
Professor Michael Batty
, University College London; from Michael Batty introductory chapter
