How buildings change the fundamental allometry

TL;DR

This paper extends the fundamental allometry model by incorporating building height, showing that city area, population, and building height are interconnected, leading to more accurate urban modeling supported by empirical data.

Contribution

It introduces a new allometry model that includes building height as a key factor, improving the understanding of urban form relationships.

Findings

Building height significantly influences the relationship between city area and population.

The extended allometry model better fits empirical data across different countries.

Incorporating building height improves urban form predictions.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the original fundamental allometry alone cannot accurately describe the relationship between urban area and population size. Instead, building height is a third factor that interplays with area and population. To illustrate this, we propose a straightforward model based on the idea that city area is the result of people's desire to live close to one another while also having sufficient living space. This leads to a more general form of fundamental allometry (relating area, population, and building height). Our argument is supported by empirical data from different countries.