Interest in scaling laws has grown since the beginning of the 21st century. In both the social sciences and the natural sciences, there is continued astonishment at the increasing inequalities between large and small cities.
While social indicators are often thought of as linear measures, in terms of per capita quantities, economies of scale allow us to take account of sublinear relationships or superlinear relationships (amplifications), achieved according to the size of cities. Given the dual challenge facing cities in terms of ecological transition and technological innovation, it is crucial to inform urban policies about the effects of their size on the qualities of cities.
Scaling Laws and Urban Systems provides an overview of this new knowledge in terms of growth and adaptation capacities, resource extraction or environmental pollution, as well as the sustainability of the living conditions that cities now offer to the majority of the world’s population.
Introduction xiii Céline VACCHIANI-MARCUZZO and Denise PUMAIN Part 1. Consolidating the Significance of Urban Scaling Laws 1 Chapter 1. Scaling Laws in Complex Systems Dynamics 3 Denise PUMAIN 1.1. Scaling laws: definition and interpretations 3 1.2. A difficult synthesis 13 1.3. Applications of scaling laws 16 1.4. Scaling laws: challenges for urban policy 20 1.5. Conclusion 23 1.6. References 25 Chapter 2. Epistemological and Critical Examination of Urban Scaling Laws 35 Cécile TANNIER and Denise PUMAIN 2.1. Introduction 36 2.2. Concept of scale in urban geography 36 2.3. Scale invariance of the rank-size distribution of cities and central place systems 46 2.4. Scaling laws: theoretical challenges 55 2.5. Practical issues still unresolved 60 2.6. Conclusion 62 2.7. References 64 Chapter 3. Generative Models of Hierarchical Systems of Cities: The Role of Individuals and Firms 75 Cécile TANNIER 3.1. Introduction 75 3.2. Explanatory processes for the hierarchization of systems of cities 77 3.3. Intraurban agglomeration and competition processes explaining interurban hierarchies 79 3.4. Interurban hierarchies explained by the intensity and diversity of intraurban social interactions 80 3.5. City hierarchies and urban scaling laws resulting from migration or individual interurban interactions 87 3.6. Properties of the modeled structures and dynamics 94 3.7. Conclusion 105 3.8. References 106 Chapter 4. Modeling Interactions Between Cities to Simulate Urban Hierarchies 115 Cécile TANNIER 4.1. Introduction 115 4.2. Three categories of processes at work in the dynamics of systems of cities 117 4.3. Models 123 4.4. Components of model dynamics 149 4.5. Conclusion 155 4.6. References 156 Part 2. Revisiting International Comparison of Urban Systems with Scaling Laws 165 Chapter 5. Urban Functions and Scaling Laws: South Africa, United States, France 167 Céline VACCHIANI-MARCUZZO and Fabien PAULUS 5.1. Scaling laws to the test: a comparative analysis of South Africa, France and the United States 168 5.2. A hybrid system of cities between the new world and developing countries 169 5.3. Scaling laws and industry (economic sectors) 171 5.4. Exploration of occupations 178 5.5. Conclusion 186 5.6. References 186 Chapter 6. Scaling Laws and Integration Dynamics in Cities of the European Union 191 Olivier FINANCE and Denise PUMAIN 6.1. Scaling laws and the diffusion of innovations 193 6.2. Foreign investment flows into European cities 200 6.3. Scaling laws and indicators of metropolization 207 6.4. Conclusion 209 6.5. References 209 Chapter 7. The Integration of Cities with Globalization, From 2010 to 2022, Through the Lens of Scaling Laws 215 Céline ROZENBLAT 7.1. Understanding the scaling laws of cities in multinational corporation networks 217 7.2. Contribution of scaling laws to understanding the processes of city integration into multinational corporation networks 223 7.3. Reliable database and rigorous methodology 224 7.4. Scaling laws for cities based on multinational enterprise networks 235 7.5. Network properties in urban systems revealed by scaling laws 243 7.6. Conclusion 249 7.7. References 250 Part 3. Scaling Laws to Better Characterize Urban Forms 255 Chapter 8. Intra-Urban Radial Scaling Laws 257 Justin DELLOYE, Estelle MENNICKEN, Paul KILGARRIFF, Rémi LEMOY and Geoffrey CARUSO 8.1. Introduction 257 8.2. Literature and definitions 259 8.3. Radial approach: concept and empirical measurements 261 8.4. Results 265 8.5. Discussion and conclusion 270 8.6. References 271 Chapter 9. A Method to Define Multiscalar Systems of Cities in France 275 Florent LE NÉCHET, Benoit CONTI and Sylvestre DUROUDIER 9.1. Introduction 275 9.2. Mobility dynamics and functional interpretations of urbanized spaces 277 9.3. Proposal for an original method for analyzing the existence of ""multiscalar"" urban systems 282 9.4. Diversity in the spatial organization of urban systems in France 289 9.5. Conclusion 305 9.6. References 306 Conclusion. What Role will Scaling Laws Play in the Future of Cities? 311 Céline VACCHIANI-MARCUZZO and Denise PUMAIN List of Authors 323 Index 325
Céline Vacchiani-Marcuzzo is Geographer and Professor at Université Paris Cité, France. Her work focuses on the functional and relational aspects of cities (demographic dynamics, economic trajectories, mobility, etc.) from a comparative global perspective. Denise Pumain is Geographer and Emeritus Professor at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France. As a specialist in urban dynamics, she questions the relevance of transferring models between the natural sciences and social sciences.
