Ancient cities developed along the same mathematical laws as modern

The study of ancient Mexican settlements revealed a marked resemblance between the cities pre-Columbian era and modern cities. This proves that the laws of urban development are universal and are derived from the principles of human social interaction, and not under the influence of modern culture and civilization.

Previous studies have shown that an increase in the population is increasing the efficiency and productivity of modern cities. For example, the production of goods is growing faster than the population. Moreover, this law shows a surprising mathematical regularity. The phenomenon called "urban zoom» (urban scaling).

For example, by doubling the population of the average earnings of each inhabitant increased by 15% (although crime is also increasing, it is an inevitable side effect).

Scientists from the Santa Fe Institute and the University of Colorado at Boulder decided to check whether the same mathematical law in the cities of ancient civilizations. To do this, they examined the research in the vicinity of Mexico City, where an area of ​​4,000 km <sup>2 sup> found archaeological layers of different cultural layers, which show the development of the city for over 2000 years, from 500 BC up to 1500

The research team analyzed the dimensions of the ancient churches and hundreds of thousands of homes to evaluate the approximate number and density of population. They determined the speed of construction of monuments and buildings, as well as the intensity of use of the infrastructure.

The results, published in February 2015 in the journal Science Advances , confirms this hypothesis. Efficiency and productivity of ancient cities also increased faster pace with population growth.



"It's awesome and incredibly, - says Scott Ortman (Scott Ortman), Professor, Department of Anthropology University of Colorado at Boulder and one of the authors of scientific work. - We have always said that thanks to capitalism, industrialization and democracy modern world is very different from ancient civilizations. But we found that the fundamental laws for reliable socio-economic development models of modern cities appeared long before all this ».

The authors acknowledge that the study of cities around Mexico City - only the first step. In the near future they are going to test a mathematical model on the excavations in Peru, China and Europe.

Source: geektimes.ru/post/246322/</sup>