Mathematics and cities: A long-standing relationship fit for the future?

Christopher D.F. Rogers*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Mathematics helps us to deal with time and space, an important truism for those individuals who work on behalf of society to impose order on nature. Civil engineers in particular have to seek to harmonise their creations with the natural environment while working within temporal and special constraints. For example, engineers have to synthesise natural and man-made rhythms, meaning that timings need to be synchronised, often with a very high degree of precision. Their creations need to be harmonised with the natural landscape, and while some can hug the contours of the landscape, canals, railways, pipelines, tunnels and major roads need to cut through it such that they are linear or curved in plan and uniform in gradient. This is simple geometry made complicated by myriad engineering calculations. As we transition to a world of autonomous vehicles and robotics to mimic human thinking and actions, multiple data feeds and near instantaneous conversions into intelligent movements stretch our capacity to make calculations. Harmonising this with our infrastructure and urban systems to yield a safe, efficient and effective world today, and one that is sustainable and resilient as we look to the far future, is one of the most important mathematical challenges of the modern age. Mathematics pure and simple, or applied and complicated, permeates everything we do, therefore.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationModeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology
PublisherSpringer Basel
Pages517-522
Number of pages6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Publication series

NameModeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology
ISSN (Print)2164-3679
ISSN (Electronic)2164-3725

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant numbers GR/S20482, EP/C513177 and EP/E021603 (Birmingham Eastside Regeneration—Sustainable Urban Redevelopment), EP/F007426 (Urban Futures), EP/I016133 (Resilience of Critical local Transport and Utility Infrastructure), EP/J017698 (Liveable Cities - Transforming the Engineering of Cities to Deliver Societal and Planetary Wellbeing), EP/K012398 (iBUILD: Infrastructure BUsiness models, valuation and Innovation for Local Delivery), EP/N010523 (Balancing the Impact of City Infrastructure Engineering on Natural Systems using Robots) and EP/P002021 (Urban Living Birmingham). He also gratefully acknowledges the funding from the University of Birmingham for the Policy Commission on Future Urban Living and both the project staff and his colleagues on the Lead Expert Group of the Foresight Future of Cities project.

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Modelling and Simulation
  • General Engineering
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
  • Computational Mathematics

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