Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

A unified theory of urban living

Nature volume 467, pages 912–913 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

It is time for a science of how city growth affects society and environment, say Luis Bettencourt and Geoffrey West.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Schellnhuber, H. J., Molina, M., Stern, N., Huber, V. & Kadner, S. (eds) Global Sustainability: A Nobel Cause (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  2. UN-Habitat. State of the World's Cities 2010/2011 — Cities for All: Bridging the Urban Divide (2010); available at http://www.unhabitat.org

  3. Jacobs, J. The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bettencourt, L. M. A., Lobo, J., Helbing, D., Kühnert, C. & West, G. B. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 7301–7306 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Batty, M. Science 319, 769–771 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bettencourt, L. M. A., Lobo, J., Strumsky, D. & West, G. B. PLoS ONE (in the press).

  7. Brown, M. A., Southworth, F. & Sarzynski, A. Policy Soc. 27, 285–304 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dodman, D. Environ. Urban. 21, 185–201 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. West, G. B., Enquist, B. J. & Brown, J. H. Science 276, 122–126 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. West, G. B., Brown, J. H. & Enquist, B. J. Nature 413, 628–631 (2001).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Luis Bettencourt is a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.,

    Luis Bettencourt

  2. Geoffrey West is distinguished professor at the Santa Fe Institute and senior fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. gbw@santafe-edu ,

    Geoffrey West

Authors
  1. Luis Bettencourt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Geoffrey West
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bettencourt, L., West, G. A unified theory of urban living. Nature 467, 912–913 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467912a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/467912a

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing