CITY SCIENCE:
PERFORMANCE FOLLOWS FORM
Aretian's 2024 book City Science: Performance Follows Form presents an extended study of 100 urban environments and metropolitan areas on five continents. In it, we compare and contrast—in terms of urban performance—the quality of the architectural and urban design characteristics and civil engineering infrastructures and the impact that those systems have on citizens' quality of life.
City Science: Performance Follows Form tackles some of the most pressing questions in modern urbanism. It delves into the extent to which cities can meet the 15-minute city standards, shape a thriving knowledge economy, and establish an efficient intermodal mobility and transportation system. These are all crucial topics in today's urban development landscape, making this book a must-read for anyone interested in the field.
The Aretian team, a spin off company from the Harvard Innovation Labs, has developed a city science methodology to evaluate the relationship between city form and urban performance.
This book illuminates the relationship between a city's spatial design and the quality of life it affords the general population. It evaluates the metropolitan regions and municipalities around the world and compares them with one another to identify city form patterns and their impact on urban performance with respect to their ability to satisfy a series of urban performance quality standards, focusing on the knowledge economy and distributed prosperity.
Readers will discover guidelines for fostering and preserving successful knowledge economy ecosystems.
Authors:
Ramon Gras
Jeremy Burke
Fernando Yu
Contributors:
Gauthier de La Ville de Baugé
Céleste Richard
“By intertwining city science systems techniques with network theory, this book bridges urban design best practices with the essence and dynamics of thriving cities.”
“The Aretian team offer us a lens to better understand our cities and its dynamics, but also to better design and re-invent our cities to spur innovation, prosperity, and well-being.”
Fawwaz Habbal
Former Executive Dean for Education of Research at Harvard SEAS
"By intertwining city science systems techniques with network theory, this book bridges urban design best practices with the essence and dynamics of thriving cities. It furnishes guidelines and metrics for urban development efficiency, weaving in architectural and economic development best practices. This book is a valuable read for 21st-century policy makers, urban planners, and designers. It serves citizens well as they attempt to understand how to champion sustainable development goals."
Stephan van Dijk
Director of Innovation - Amsterdam Insitute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions
"By developing a rigorous methodological framework based on city form, network theory and complexity science, and clear and quantifiable measures and indicators, Ramon and the Aretian team offer us a lens to better understand our cities and its dynamics, but also to better design and re-invent our cities to spur innovation, prosperity, and well-being. This is much needed in the times of transition and change that we are currently in, and I would recommend everyone to read this book and think about how to implement its insights."
“This book unfolds a universal story of cities as living beings, shaped by the delicate dance between art and science, tradition and innovation.”
“Movement, interaction, transaction, and innovation are reflected in our understanding of the form and performance of the city”
Sacha Stolp
Director of Innovation - Future Proof Assets and Climate Adaption - City of Amsterdam
"City Science: Performance Follows Form" unfolds a universal story of cities as living beings, shaped by the delicate dance between art and science, tradition and innovation. It is a journey through the complicated relationships of urban design, where the cityscape reflects the soul of its people."
Laura Narvaez Zertuche
Partner, Urban Design at Foster + Partners
"Ramon Gras and Jeremy Burke brilliantly succeed in showing how movement, interaction, transaction, and innovation are reflected in our understanding of the form and performance of the city, beautifully showcased in the exploration of 100 cities. This book is an admirable accomplishment."
