THE CITY AND THE STARS

摘要

Is there anything analogous to a city in the natural world? Cities have been compared to brains, organisms, ecosystems and machines, but are any of these analogies correct or useful? For sure, some characteristics of cities resemble natural structures. The vasculature of a leaf is a bit like the layout of roads, for example, but this resemblance is only superficial. Unlike in organisms, urban infrastructure is open-ended, so that it can adapt to accommodate more people.