The complex science of cities and how they grow - with Elsa Arcaute

What can fractal patterns tell us about how cities are formed and grow? And can you use complexity science to predict voting patterns based on infrastructure?
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Complexity science teaches us that "more is different," meaning that interacting parts, for example, people, give rise to new and unexpected properties. Despite cities being often seen as opposite to nature, discover that they share many similar processes with natural systems.
In this lecture, Elsa Arcaute explores fascinating connections, such as how the structure of leaves can help us understand the layout of cities, how urban footprints left over thousands of years resemble the organisation of the brain, and whether there is a collective urban memory that influences socio-economic trends like inequality. Additionally, we will question whether these resemblances are the outcome of our fractal nature.
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Elsa Arcaute is Professor of Complexity Science at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. Her research focuses on modelling and analysing urban systems from the perspective of complexity sciences. Her main branches of research are urban scaling laws, hierarchies in urban systems, defining city boundaries, and the analysis of urban processes using percolation theory and networks.
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[@buddhistjustbud]

The Remedios Varo Exhibit (Chicago, US ) took my breath away. Just Wow I see it's closed now. keep a tab open, and see it in person one day if you can

[@savage22bolt32]

Never heard if Varo, so I did a search. Her work reminds me of Salvador Dali.

[@chrismoller8166]

Observe that Dr Aracute's shirt is very fractal-like. 🙂

[@spot997]

The actual lecture starts around 32:00, before that point there is a lot of noise. Interesting and entertaining, but mostly off topic, thus noise. Not the best style.

[@astaturinim3143]

I think it was necessary especially on this technical issue like this one. You can see how she was avoiding math formulas for audience outside her field like me but I respect your opinion if one want has already headstart for this topic

[@stefan_popp]

Agreed. There was no motivating question or problem making us aware why this matters for anything.

[@stephenbrickwood1602]

Nuclear electricity proliferation to stop CO2 proliferation also means national transmission grid proliferation. The existing national electric grid is fragile because it is extremely, extremely expensive. Never overbuilt because enough to do the job was expensive. No fossil fuels means 5fold bigger electric demand and 5times bigger capacity national electrical grid capacity. The electricity grid is fractal and also invisible to most people. Particularly when underground. Basically every building in the UK is connected to the national grid. Do you have information on this???

[@gbail9566]

It seems weird to say, but facials are what makes maths real to me😅

[@gbail9566]

Oops, meant to say fractals, autocorrected!😱

[@CephalicMiasma4]

Thank you for not deleting this, gave me a good chuckle.

[@wdujsub7902]

Quality PHub comment ahahah, thank you for not deleting.

[@michaelq8892]

Bit of a question you would know, given the UNIVERSAL demographic data about populations that primarily reside in cities, shrinking and collapsing across the world, with birthrates being below that needed to even maintain the population, do you know of cities across history even into the ancient world that expanded, sucked up all the populations from the surrounding farms and became unlivable, resulting in a catastrphic collapse? Are cities human roach motels?

[@tingchen2295]

wow How to recognize the Roman roads directly？

[@anthonyshiels9273]

There are reasons why Sir Thomas More became SAINT Thomas More.

[@frank93907]

This that stuff.

[@TheAlchemistZero1]

How does the remainder of Nature survive without advanced maths? How did homo sapiens sapiens survive 600+ thousand years without equations?

[@peterirvin7121]

How is this question significant?

[@cirick1696]

In the same way you are able to throw a ball to a friend without running a calculation every time. Maths and equations are excellent terms to discuss and also reference the world, but aren't absolutely required to operate in it.

[@TheAlchemistZero1]

@@cirick1696 You understand that maths isn't reality, instead only human interpretations of reality; just as time doesn't exist outside of moments of life-passed (what's the exact time at the N/S poles?).

[@karthikmanasali9343]

@@cirick1696but to create ball maths required 😂

[@radioactivepilot]

We know where the world is headed when videos like this spur a discussion of a whole dozen comments. But a guy filming himself driving recklessly gets a million views and thousands of comments.

[@ShonMardani]

Because the driver is real, these videos are not.

[@yowie7169]

KZbin started as a dating site iirc, the fact that there is a channel for the royal institution on this platform given its origin suggests to me things are moving in the right direction.

[@theextragalactic1]

🏙️