Book chapter
Winding paths through urban systems and urban networks
Port Systems in Global Competition, pp 77-88
2024
Abstract
It's not uncommon to hear that the phrase "urban networks" can mean so many things, it is possible that it does not mean much of anything. Yet urban systems scholarship that utilizes a network-based approach has provided deep insight into the nature and structure of cities. This chapter provides an overview of the many ways scholars have attempted to understand urban systems through network-based approaches. It provides an argument for why cities can be understood as being composed as networks and shows the many different types of nodes and edges that can comprise an urban network. It highlights the different objectives scholars have in using network science and network analysis in studying urban systems, be it to understand the network in-and-of-itself, or in pursuit of advancing other theories. The chapter then diagnoses common challenges associated with using network methods to study urban systems, including confusion surrounding node and edge definition, data availability, and methodological naïveté. To make these challenges more concrete, four articles in the urban network literature are analyzed for their differences and similarities. The chapter concludes with recommendations toward making the study of urban networks more applicable to the challenges of urban policymakers.
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Details
- Title
- Winding paths through urban systems and urban networks
- Creators
- Benjamin Preis
- Contributors
- César Ducruet (Editor)Theo Notteboom (Editor)
- Publication Details
- Port Systems in Global Competition, pp 77-88
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Edition
- 1
- Number of pages
- 12
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Nowak Metro Finance Lab; Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85164031081
- Other Identifier
- 991021901815404721