I explore cities as complex adaptive systems — applying ideas from complexity science, fractal geometry, and spontaneous order to urban morphology, planning theory, and the dynamics of urban growth. I hold a Master's in Urban Planning from the Institut d'Urbanisme de Paris, and I have published extensively on these themes at The Nature of Cities.
Research Interests
Urban morphology · Fractal geometry in cities · Complex adaptive systems · Emergence and self-organization · Jane Jacobs · Christopher Alexander · Nikos Salingaros · Agent-based modeling · Incremental urbanism · Urban succession · Regional governance
Published Writing
The Nature of Cities
The Nature of Cities is a platform for scholars, practitioners, and advocates working at the interface of urbanism, ecology, and design.
- Explaining the Housing Crisis with the Theory of Constraints — April 2023
- A Fractal Solution to Regional Complexity and Governance — January 2020
- Neighborhoods that Change in Non-linear Ways — Urban Planning for Succession — July 2019
- Neural Networks — A New Model for 'The Kind of Problem a City Is' — April 2018
- The Effect of Iteration on Urban Form, Part II: Iteration in an Ecosystem — June 2017
- The Effect of Iteration on Urban Form, Part I: Fractals and the Creation of Complexity — June 2017
- Uses and Abuses of Preservation — November 2016
- Common Threads: Connections Among the Ideas of Jane Jacobs and Elinor Ostrom, and Their Relevance to Urban Socio-Ecology — May 2016
- Neighborhoods and Urban Fractals — The Building Blocks of Sustainable Cities — October 2012
Contributed book recommendation (Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas) to the TNOC roundtable "Read this!" — December 2016
Emergent Urbanism
Since 2007, I have maintained Emergent Urbanism, a blog exploring spontaneous order, fractal city growth, and the science of urban complexity. It draws on Stephen Wolfram's computational approach, Christopher Alexander's pattern language, and the economic insights of F.A. Hayek and Jane Jacobs.
Education
Institut d'Urbanisme de Paris / Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne
Master's — Urban Planning | 2008
Examined how emergent phenomena, complex adaptive systems, and fractal geometry explain the structure and growth of traditional and organic urban forms, in contrast to top-down planned cities.
Concordia University
B.A. — Economics and Computer Science | 2006
Montreal, Canada
Interdisciplinary foundation in formal economics and computation, which informs my approach to urban complexity and agent-based modeling.
Practice & Projects
Advisor — BIMBY.fr
Served as advisor to BIMBY.fr (Build In My Back Yard), a French urban planning initiative promoting incremental, owner-driven densification as a strategy for sustainable urban growth. BIMBY applies complexity-aligned principles to residential infill in the French periurban context.
Modeling Tools for Emergent City Growth
I develop computational tools for modeling emergent city growth, exploring how simple local rules at the neighborhood scale produce complex urban form at the regional scale.
Professional Background
By profession I am a senior web developer, platform architect, and tech lead (currently at Appnovation Technologies) with over fifteen years of experience, including co-founding a technology company. This technical background directly informs my practice in computational urbanism and agent-based modeling.