The Metabolic Interface of the Urban Periphery

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In any analogy of metabolism, you have to think about a metabolic interface. This is where the unifying theory that we've built and urban development comes into play. And if it's the urban periphery itself, then you don't want that concentric city. You really want a highly brugose, complicated structure. That complicated structure helps purfuse the system with all the nutrients it needs,. Also allows it to grow in a branching fashion.

The concept of the city is a crucial one for human civilization: people living in proximity, bringing in resources from outside, separated from the labors of subsistence so they can engage in the trade of goods and ideas. But we are still learning how cities grow and adapt to new conditions, as well as how we can best guide them to be livable as well as functional. I talk with urban scientist Catherine Brinkley about the structure of cities, including the fractal nature of their shapes, as well as what we can do to make cities thrive as much as possible.

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Catherine Brinkley received a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning as well as a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently Associate Professor of Human Ecology and Faculty Director at the Center for Regional Change at the University of California, Davis. She has been awarded fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, and the Santa Fe Institute.