Michael Batty facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Batty
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Michael Batty
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| Born | 11 January 1945 |
| Alma mater | University of Manchester (BA, 1966) University of Wales (PhD, 1984) |
| Occupation | Urban Planner & Geographer |
Michael Batty is a British expert who studies cities. He was born on January 11, 1945. He is a professor at University College London (UCL). His work helps us understand how cities grow and change.
Professor Batty combines ideas from urban planning, geography, and data science. He uses computers to create models of cities. These models help people plan better cities for the future. He has won many important awards for his work. These include the William Alonso Prize twice, and the Vautrin Lud Prize, which is sometimes called the 'Nobel for geography'.
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Early Life and School
Michael Batty was born in Liverpool, England. He went to primary school there from 1950 to 1956. After that, he attended Quarry Bank High School until 1962.
He then went to the University of Manchester. There, he studied Town and Country Planning from 1962 to 1966. He earned a special degree with top honors. Later, in 1984, he completed his PhD at the University of Wales. His PhD research was about computer models that show how cities change over time.
What Michael Batty Does Now
Professor Batty is a very busy person! Here are some of the things he does:
- He is a professor of planning at UCL. He also leads the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA). CASA is a special center that uses computers to study cities.
- He is a visiting professor at Arizona State University in the USA.
- He is an honorary professor at Cardiff University in Wales.
- He is also a distinguished professor at two universities in Hong Kong.
- He is the editor of a science journal called Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design.
Michael Batty's Career Journey
Michael Batty started his teaching career in 1966 at the University of Manchester. He taught about planning for towns and the countryside. He then spent ten years at the University of Reading. There, he was a researcher and teacher in geography. During this time, he also taught for a year in Canada.
In 1979, he moved to the University of Wales. He became a professor of town planning. He even led the department and was a dean. In 1990, he moved to the United States. He directed a big research center at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
He has also been a visiting professor at many other universities around the world. These include places like the University of Illinois, University of Melbourne, and the University of Michigan.
His Research and Books
Professor Batty's main research focuses on creating computer models. These models help us understand how cities are built and how they work. His early work looked at how land use and transportation connect in cities. He wrote a book about this called Urban Modelling.
Later, he started using more visual ways to show cities. He explored how cities grow in complex ways, like natural patterns called fractals. He wrote a book called Fractal Cities with Paul Longley. This book suggested that cities grow from small parts upwards.
His book Cities and Complexity explores how cities are like complex systems. This means they have many parts that interact in surprising ways. His book The New Science of Cities brings many of his ideas together. It suggests that understanding how people and things move (flows) is key to understanding cities.
His most recent book, Inventing Future Cities, was published in 2018. In this book, he talks about how we can imagine and create better cities for the future. He believes we can invent the future of cities, even if we can't perfectly predict it.
He has also edited other books, including Agent-Based Models of Geographical Systems.
Awards and Honors
Michael Batty has received many important awards and honors for his contributions to science and planning:
- In 2023, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- In 2009, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists.
- He became a Fellow of the British Academy in 2001.
- He also became a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2001 and the Royal Society of Arts in 1982.
He is also a Fellow of several professional groups. These include the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Geographical Society.
Key Awards
- 2016: He received the Senior Scientific Award from the Complex Systems Society. This was for his pioneering ideas about cities as complex systems.
- 2013: He won the Vautrin Lud Prize. This is a top award in geography.
- 2010: He received the Alonso Prize from the Regional Science Association. This was for his book Cities and Complexity.
- 2004: He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to geography.
- 1999: He received the Sir George Back Award from the Royal Geographical Society. This was for his work on planning and city design.
