How researchers define cities matters — and they can’t agree on a definition. (Credit: JusticeMap.org)

What, practically speaking, is a city? The answer to that question is crucial for the growing number of researchers who want to examine cities through a scientific lens — yet even leaders in that field can’t agree on a definition.

For a study of, say, economic productivity, does New York consist of the five boroughs governed by Mayor Bill de Blasio? Or does it include municipalities such as New Rochelle and Jersey City that are deeply interconnected with New York proper? Should the population encompass commuters who live in Connecticut? What about someone who visits once a month on business?

“The ideal is that you’d like to measure basically the entire population that interacts strongly, socially and economically,” says Luis Bettencourt, professor of complex systems at the Santa Fe Institute and one of the pioneers of the scientific study of cities. But determining how to arrive at that measurement is another matter. “The problem is that there’s no sharp threshold,” he continues. “That problem has been around for a long, long time.”....Continue Reading

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