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The pointillistic city and geographic scale in urban science

Abstract

Cities can be organized into properties, streets, ‘neighborhoods’ and more, posing a challenge for urban science. The pointillistic perspective on cities integrates multiple geographic scales in theory, research and policy by emphasizing the distinct processes that operate at each scale and their interactions. My goal is partially to rectify an overreliance on neighborhoods, revealing underappreciated microspatial inequities. I apply it to two topics with neighborhood-centric histories and burgeoning place-based literatures—crime and environmental justice—and explore how it can generalize to other scales (for example, cities), guide work with novel data fueling urban informatics, and inform equitable policymaking.

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Fig. 1: Comparison of a pointillistic painting and a city.
Fig. 2: Graphical representation of the pointillistic perspective on cities.

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Acknowledgements

I thank E. Moro, R. Tucker and R. Qi Wang for feedback on earlier drafts of this essay.

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  1. School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel T. O’Brien

  2. Boston Area Research Initiative, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Daniel T. O’Brien

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O’Brien, D.T. The pointillistic city and geographic scale in urban science.
Nat Cities (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00237-7

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  • Received: 06 June 2024

  • Accepted: 04 April 2025

  • Published: 13 May 2025

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00237-7

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