Introduction to Urban Science: Evidence and Theory of Cities as Complex Systems

Luís Bettencourt provides a timely, comprehensive, and rigorous treatment of urban space, by contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field of urban science. The author develops a valuable scientific guide for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and students interested in understanding cities as complex systems. Today, more than half of world's population lives in urban areas, and, according to theWorld Bank data, by 2045, urban citizens will increase up to 6 billion. Cities of different sizes will play a pivotal role in the postpandemic recovery and, most importantly, they will make the green transition of our economies and societies really work in coming years. Therefore, understanding “how each city and every one of its people is the result of the aggregation of many choices, accidents, and influences from their compounded joint history” (p. xxi) becomes crucial to manage present and future local and global challenges.