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A feature in the May issue of Smithsonian magazine reviews the birth at SFI of the growing field of "quantitative urbanism" and its progress toward an improved theoretical, mathematical understanding of cities.

"The birth of this new field can be dated to 2003, when researchers at SFI convened a workshop on ways to 'model'—in the scientific sense of reducing to equations—aspects of human society," the article notes. "Out of that meeting emerged a collaboration that produced the seminal paper in the field: 'Growth, Innovation, Scaling, and the Pace of Life in Cities.' In six pages dense with equations and graphs, [Geoffrey West], [Jose Lobo], and [Luis Bettencourt], along with two researchers from the Dresden University of Technology, laid out a theory about how cities vary according to size."

The article also mentions SFI's "Urban Informal Settlements" project with Slum Dwellers International, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Read the article in Smithsonian (May 2013)

Read the part 1 article in Enterra Insights (June 7, 2013)

Read the part 2 article in Enterra Insights (June 14, 2013)

More about SFI's Cities & Urbanization research

More about SFI's Urban Informal Settlements research