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SUMMARY:Cities all the way down: a new geographical framework for developm
 ent
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260610T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260610T181500
DTSTAMP:20260609T004740Z
UID:a79331b0-b159-f111-a825-7c1e52046c40
CREATED:20260527T095154Z
DESCRIPTION:Development is usually measured and governed at the level of n
 ations — but the evidence tells a different story\, in which cities are 
 the fundamental unit. This inversion redefines development as a tangible p
 rocess of physical\, social and economic connectivity\, leading to interes
 ting new solutions.\n\nIt is a central dogma of international policy that 
 nations are the principal units of development. However\, empirical suppor
 t for this view is weak\, and national-level commitments are faltering —
  driven by deep internal divisions that expose the limitations of top-down
  frameworks. Within any nation\, development varies enormously across scal
 es: regions\, cities\, and neighbourhoods each face distinct constraints a
 nd priorities and often move at different speeds. \n\nIn this talk\, Profe
 ssor Bettencourt will show that cities and urban systems are the natural e
 nvironments creating development. In this context\, normative ideas of dev
 elopment acquire a new and more precise meaning\, as the tangible expansio
 n of physical\, social\, and economic connectivity and interdependence. He
  will show that this framework explains empirical patterns across time and
  diverse geographies and accounts for simultaneous changes across many dis
 tinct metrics\, reconciling heterogeneity at the largest scale (nations) a
 nd the smallest (neighbourhoods) within a single coherent picture.\n\nThis
  view contrasts sharply with prevailing approaches to sustainable developm
 ent. Rather than top-down national targets\, which suffer from ecological 
 fallacies and distributional effects\, it emphasises the articulation of b
 ottom-up processes across scales including communities of innovation\, phy
 sical connectivity\, and the basic services that support human development
 .
LAST-MODIFIED:20260527T101647Z
LOCATION:Oxford Martin School\, Oxford Martin School 34 Broad Street  Oxfo
 rd Oxfordshire OX1 3BD United Kingdom
SPEAKER:Professor Luís Bettencourt (Professor of Ecology and Evolution\, 
 University of Chicago)
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