Building Good Cities: A Physics Problem

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Cities can be seen as a physics problem, where individual people within the city experience pushes and pulls, seeking equilibrium for happiness. The shape and growth of cities depend on the collective interests and ideas of its residents. Building cities involves constructing not just a place to live, but a place where people can be happy, including green spaces and outdoor areas. This interdisciplinary conversation on city growth requires ideas from various fields to create cities that are good for all residents and non-residents, recognizing that cities impact the world significantly.

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.