Françoise Labbe - <p class="MsoBodyText">The
challenge of a science of cities is to understand the links between urban
morphogenesis, efficiency and resilience. Mathematical regularities emerge in
resilient cities, coming from the scale-free properties of complex systems that
present the same level of complexity across their different scales. They take
the form of inverse power laws that are the « signature » of complexity. In
living cities, these mathematical regularities derive from historical layering
over millennia (Paris) or from intense market forces (New York). In complex,
living and resilient cities, the distribution of elements and connections does
not obey Gaussian laws but scale-free inverse power laws. Understanding the
universality of this structure which also characterizes natural phenomena and
living systems, and which has been violated by modernist city planning, would
allow planning more efficient and resilient cities. The paper shows how initial
breaks of symmetry fostered the emergence of scale-free structures in Paris and
New York, with long-range time correlations, and how a break of symmetry in the
spatial layout created a highly differentiated socio-economic structure in
Barcelona.<br></p><p class="MsoBodyText">Keywords:&nbsp;urban morphology; symmetries; scaling.</p>
Breaking Symmetries and Emerging Scaling Urban Structures: A Morphological Tale of 3 Cities: Paris, New York and Barcelona
Type
journal article
Year
2014

The challenge of a science of cities is to understand the links between urban morphogenesis, efficiency and resilience. Mathematical regularities emerge in resilient cities, coming from the scale-free properties of complex systems that present the same level of complexity across their different scales. They take the form of inverse power laws that are the « signature » of complexity. In living cities, these mathematical regularities derive from historical layering over millennia (Paris) or from intense market forces (New York). In complex, living and resilient cities, the distribution of elements and connections does not obey Gaussian laws but scale-free inverse power laws. Understanding the universality of this structure which also characterizes natural phenomena and living systems, and which has been violated by modernist city planning, would allow planning more efficient and resilient cities. The paper shows how initial breaks of symmetry fostered the emergence of scale-free structures in Paris and New York, with long-range time correlations, and how a break of symmetry in the spatial layout created a highly differentiated socio-economic structure in Barcelona.

Keywords: urban morphology; symmetries; scaling.

Citation
Salat, Serge, Loeiz Bourdic,and Françoise Labbe. "Breaking Symmetries and Emerging Scaling Urban Structures: A Morphological Tale of 3 Cities: Paris, New York and Barcelona." Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 8, issue 2 (2014): 77-93.
Parent Publications
Authorities
Copyright
Salat, Bourdic, and Labbe
Language
English