which discusses sublinear and superlinear scaling of complex networks.
The first law, “sublinear scaling,” is for systems that deliver resources. It means a city with a large population needs only ~80% as many roads, power lines, and gas stations per person as a city half its size. The second, “SUPERLINEAR scaling,” applies to outputs of socioeconomic activity. It means a large city produces ~120% more wealth, patents, crime, pollution, and disease per person than a city half its size.
“Remarkably, these two growth rates, 0.8 and 1.2., are showing up over and over again in literally dozens of city-related contexts and applications,” wrote Complexity Science Hub Vienna in a press release. “However, so far it is not really understood where these numbers come from.”
https://www.santafe.edu/news-center/news/researchers-reveal-...