Marc Barthelemy - Urban Science: a statistical physics perspective

When: 2022-03-21 14:00-16:00 (Tallinn time)
Where: CUDAN Open Lab (online)

Video of the seminar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYZ3PT3F4uM
Webpage: https://www.quanturb.com/

Abstract – Dr Marc Barthelemy, research director at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (IPhT) in Saclay and a member of the Center of Social Analysis and Mathematics (CAMS) at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) will give a lecture on “Urban Science: a statistical physics perspective”.

Modelling the structure and evolution of cities is critical because policy makers need robust theories and new paradigms for mitigating various important problems such as air pollution, congestion, socio-spatial inequalities, etc. Fortunately, the increased data available about urban systems opens the possibility of constructing a quantitative ‘science of cities’ with the aim of identifying and modelling essential phenomena. Statistical physics plays a major role in this effort by bringing tools and concepts able to bridge theory and empirical results. In this talk, I will illustrate the importance of statistical physics by discussing different topics such as the distribution of urban population and the car share of urban traffic. If time allows, I will end this talk by presenting some challenges for this science of cities.