Emergent Urbanism

Rediscovering Urban Complexity

movement economy

An empty city for sale

If we needed any further confirmation that China is the champion builder of sprawl in this decade (sorry America, you don't even come close against things like Dubai Marina), this reporter traveled to an entire city built by developers in Inner Mongolia, that, it turns out, no one wants to move to because there is no economy there, as compared to the traditional city down the road.

[youtube 0h7V3Twb-Qk]

The movement economies

Bill Hillier of Space Syntax is, along with Christopher Alexander and Michael Batty, part of the British old school of urban complexity researchers. (Hillier has joked that he would have used the term "Pattern Language" instead of Space Syntax had Alexander not used it first.) He has studied the functional impact of spatial relationships on human behavior over a career spanning several decades, and came upon some very insightful results.

Further comment

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