Complexity in Urban Systems
A special issue of Entropy (ISSN 1099-4300). This special issue belongs to the section "Complexity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 68
Special Issue Editors
Interests: human mobility; urban dynamics; spatial growth model; micromobility; migration
Interests: human mobility; complex network, spatial demography and epidemiology; human behavior; mobile phone data
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cities are typical complex systems with a large number of components interacting with each other in a nonlinear way, and most urban phenomena, if not all, emerge from interactions between individuals, locations, resources, and the environment. The structure of underlying infrastructure networks, together with various dynamics on top of it driven by the needs of their residents, strongly affect the functioning of cities and their evolution. Top-down design and bottom-up self-organization influence each other through human mobility and interactions between individuals. Urban design has the potential to shape the collective behaviors of its residents, but a good design should first follow physical laws behind urban dynamics, and thus, gaining a deeper understanding of complex urban systems is crucial for developing a more sustainable and resilient city and improving the well-being of its residents.
Recently, with rapid advancements in big data analytics, artificial intelligence, urban computing, transportation simulation, and multi-source spatiotemporal data integration, we now have unprecedented opportunities to observe, analyze, and quantify the structure, dynamics, and evolution of complex urban systems. These technologies allow us to uncover the underlying mechanisms of urban dynamics—from microscopic individual behaviors to macroscopic collective patterns. By integrating perspectives from complex systems science, transportation engineering, statistical physics, geographic information science, and social sciences, we are on the verge of developing a new science of cities.
The Special Issue is concerned with all aspects of complex urban systems; topics include but are not limited to the following:
- The growth dynamics of cities.
- Urban scaling laws and their origins.
- Human mobility and related applications.
- Epidemic spreading in/among cities.
- Mechanical model for migration and/or urban mobility.
- Deep learning predictive model for human mobility.
- Impacts of new technologies (e.g., eVTOL) on human mobility.
- Field theory of human mobility.
- Interaction/Exposure/Residential Segregation.
- Behavioral roots of inequality.
Dr. Ruiqi Li
Dr. Suoyi Tan
Dr. Er-Jian Liu
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Entropy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- urban mobility
- urban modeling
- spatial growth model
- migration
- transportation
- urban scaling laws
- segregation
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
