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“Complex causal structures of neighbourhood change” is published!
One key way that evolutionary processes occur is via feedback loops. A classic way to model such feedback loops is in functional terms. Arthur Stinchcombe articulated the elemental structure of functional explanations in his 1968 book, Constructing Social Theories. In our recently published article, “Complex causal structures of neighbourhood change,” we try to revive this […]
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Toronto Urban Evolution Model Paper Series Published!
A central theoretical goal of the Urban Genome Project has been to articulate a model of urban evolution. We develop the model in four papers, recently published together in Urban Science. The paper series is called “Towards a Model of Urban Evolution,” because its central task is to elaborate a rich yet rigorous formal language […]
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Dynamic models of urban segregation
Teaser Description Thomas Schelling’s classic paper is a key reference point for agent-based models of segregation. It is often taken as providing fundamental insight into the micro-processes that produce the segregated macro-structures that characterize urban settlement patterns. In this research tradition, however, urban form plays a very limited role, despite the fact that Schelling himself introduced […]
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The urban ecology of popular music
Teaser Description Cities are breeding grounds of distinct modes of cultural activity. In this study, we examine how popular musicians define themselves differently depending on their location. In particular, we examine the relationship between bands’ degree of conventionality and unconventionality and their popularity. We show that this relationship in general exhibits a non-linear, inverted U pattern: […]
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Political order of the city
Teaser Description While cities as a whole can be viewed as distinct ecological environments, they also have their own internal ecological order made up of a variety of local niches. These niches are not independent of one another, but interact to produce and reproduce a characteristic order that persists through time, even as individuals move […]
