Course description
Challenges due to rapid urbanization worldwide and the social development of cities increasingly involve environmental and social issues. Energy supply, reducing pollution and sustainable development particularly need to be confronted. Modelling the evolution of cities and their societies is very important. Specifically, policy makers need clear theories and new models for solving these problems. The objective of this course is to gain an in-depth knowledge of city and society dynamics. The focus will be on the application of environmental physics methodology to these systems.

Syllabus
1. What determines cities and society sizes?
2. Spatial organization of cities and societies
3. Spatial distribution of the city and society
4. Urban segregation and physics
5. Mobility
6. Energy
7. City noise and its impact on human health
8. Urban lighting
9. Transport of pollutants
10. Cities and climate change
11. Scaling in of cities and society
12. Growth rate of the population, demographic modelling
13. Greenhouse gas emission by cars in cities
14. Societies in context

Competences
• Knowledge of city dynamics
• Knowledge of society development
• Understanding the physics involved in urban issues
• Understanding mobility
• The efficient translation of scientific research expertise into practical solutions

Learning outcomes
1. Gaining a deeper knowledge of city development
2. The ability to identify the main problems in a society
3. The ability to translate theoretical knowledge into practice
4. The ability to master measuring techniques and equipment
5. Acquaintance with new trends in the field
6. A deeper knowledge of societies’ problems in context

Teaching and evaluation methods
Lectures and seminars
Seminars will be based on scientific literature in the field
Presentations of seminars to other students in the group, critical evaluation of the scientific literature
Individual work with students.

Presentation and justification of a seminar (50% of the final score), Oral exam (50% of final score).

Bibliography
BATTY, M., (2013), The new science of cities, Cambridge: MIT Press.
BARTHELEMY, M., (2016), The structure and dynamics of cities, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
BOEKER, E., VAN GRONDELLE, R., (2011), Environmental Physics, Willey.
CASTELLANO, C., FORTUNATO, S. AND LORETO, V., (2009), Statistical physics of social dynamics, Reviews of modern physics, vol. 81, no. 2, p. 591.

Required preliminary knowledge
Basics of natural sciences, in particular physics