From the mouth of wolves: urbanization and its physical and social effects on existing environments

A look at the wolf pack Urbanization, Cities, and Patterns The Paradigm Shift Identifying the Social Relationships –Scaling Complexity Conclusion

The Wolf Pack: the scope of the research 1)Title, authors, background 2)Research angle 3)Definitions of urbanization 4)Problem Definition 5)Modes of Research 6)Findings 7)Applications

Luis M.A. Bettencourt Marina Alberti John Marzluff Scott G. Ortman

“The process by which cities grow or by which societies become more urban” (The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition, 2005).

What does it mean to be a city? Bettencourt: “Cities are consumers of energy and resources and producers of artifacts, information and waste”

The Good: Economies of scale infrastructure Engines of innovation and economic growth Facilitators of social services – Education, health care, and governance

The Paradigm Shift: rethinking “city” Cities are biological entities “living systems,” “organisms,” urban “ecosystems”

Patterns of Urbanization Extreme growth in developing areas Continuous growth of existing cities Three-fold increase in land occupancy by 2030 of urban areas (M. Cheng) Twenty percent increase in developed countries

Laws of Urbanization-Identifying the Social Relationships Socio-economic and biophysical dynamics Material infrastructure, individual human needs, and patterns of social activity General relationships between material resources and social activity

Problem Rapid increase in growth, increased need Division of labor Environmental stresses Changes in land use – Direct vs. Indirect

Complexity Cities are the outcomes of dynamic interactions between socio-economic and biophysical processes Non-linear relationships Human-dominated ecology

Conclusion Urbanization is moving at a rapid pace, calling for the need for sustainable solutions To find better solutions, defining and scaling cities as biological entities is optimal Urbanization follows general rules and trends, but remains a web of complex socio-ecological and biophysical relationships, integral to understanding it in a new global climate

Sources Alberti, Marina. "Planning Under Uncertainty: Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Innovation in Urban Ecosystems." The Nature of Cities. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May Alberti, Marina, and John M. Marzluff. "Ecological Resilience in Urban Ecosystems: Linking Urban Patterns to Human and Ecological Functions." C 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Manufactured in The Netherlands. Ecological Resilience in Urban Ecosystems: Linking Urban Patterns to Human and Ecological Functions (n.d.): n. pag. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. The University of Washington. Web.. Ancient Cities Grew Pretty Much like Modern Ones, Say Scientists." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, n.d. Web. 26 Feb Bettencourt, Luis M.A., Jose Lobo, Dirk Helbing, Christian Kuhnert, and Geoffrey B. West. "Growth, Innovation, Scaling, and the pace of Life in Cities." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PNAS, 6 Mar Web. 05 May Bettencourt, L. M. A. "The Origins of Scaling in Cities." Science (2013): Sante Fe Institute. Web. 01 Mar Luis Bettencourt; The Kind of Problem a City Is , Sfi Working Paper:. The Kind of Problem a City Is (n.d.): n. pag.Sante Fe Institute. Web. Ying, XU. The Making of Mathematical Models for Ecological Cities (2014): n. pag. Web cf8d4%40sessionmgr4001&vid=1&hid=4210 Ortman, Scott G., Andrew H.F. Cabaniss, Jennie O. Sturm, and Luis M. A. Bettencourt. "The Pre-History of Urban Scaling." (n.d.): n. pag. PLOS ONE:. 12 Feb Web. 01 Mar. 2015