Can Cities Be Studied Scientifically?

Do most cities tend to organize according to observable patterns? Do cities sometimes behave similarly to biological organisms? Can we learn how cities function by comparing them to other complex systems? In this podcast, Sean Carroll interviews Luis Bettencourt about his research into complexity theory and urban life.

For this meetup, we each listen to the linked science podcast before the event, then get together to talk about it. Kind of like a book club for podcasts!

Link to the episode: https://preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/07/27/362-luis-bettencourt-on-the-universal-properties-of-self-organizing-cities/