In New York City, wages follow a surprising pattern - they increase in a super linear way as cities grow larger. This means that as cities double in size, wages increase by about 15-16%. This pattern has been observed since 1969 and is consistent over time. Interestingly, this super linear pattern is unique to economics and is not found in biology. This finding implies that as people earn more money, they also spend more and life becomes faster. This pattern has been observed in other data related to crime and behavior, highlighting the accelerating social life as captured by a simple mathematical signature.
Today we're joined by Luis Bettencourt, Professor at the University of Chicago, and External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. Luis is going to pull apart how cities work, why they work the way they do, what's good about them, and what's bad about them. He's also going to talk specifically about slums, and the challenges that exist in raising people out of poverty.
Resources and links:
Connect:
This show is produced in collaboration with Wavelength Creative. Visit wavelengthcreative.com for more information.