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SOE: Fachverband Physik sozio-ökonomischer Systeme

SOE 12: Urban Systems and Traffic Flow

SOE 12.2: Talk

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 10:15–10:30, MA 001

Coherent Economic Paths in Urban Systems Development — •Simone Daniotti — Complexity Science Hub, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

Diversity is pivotal for local economic development, shielding economies from sector-specific shocks and fostering innovation. However, maintaining diversity requires a widening capability base in cities. While economic geography literature explores the consequences of urban diversity, limited research addresses the constraints on diversity. This paper aims to address this gap by introducing a measure of coherence in economic activities, assessing the technological or cognitive distance between workers in a city. Examining US cities from 1850 to 1930 and recent periods (2002-2022 for occupations and patents, and 1980-2020 for technological specializations), the study reveals that, despite rapid specialization changes, the average coherence across urban systems remains stable. Interestingly, coherence falls by 4% with city size, regardless of the dataset or period, indicating a consistent correlation between city size and distinctive developments. While the reasons for this pattern remain unclear, the findings emphasize the significant relationship between city size and the observed extent of distinctiveness or dissimilarity in their specialized developments.

Keywords: Urban systems; Coherence; Diversity; Cities evolution; Resilience