Michael Batty

Michael Batty is the Bartlett Professor of Planning at University College London (UCL), where he chairs the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA). He is also External Faculty at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) since February 2020. His work bridges urban planning, complexity science, and advanced spatial technologies.

His research focuses on the science of cities, using computational models, big data, and visualization techniques to understand urban dynamics. Key areas include smart cities, urban complexity, digital twins, and sustainable urban development. He actively shares insights through his blogs at www.complexcity.info and www.spatialcomplexity.info.

His recent work emphasizes the integration of complexity science into digital replicas of cities, enabling more adaptive and resilient urban systems. This is reflected in his 2023 publication in Nature Computational Science on digital twins.

Scientific Awards:

• Fellow of the British Academy (FBA)
• Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)
• CBE, Queen’s Birthday Honours (2004)
• Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud (2013)
• Gold Medal, Royal Geographical Society (2015)
• Senior Scholar Award, Complex Systems Society (2016)
• Gold Medal, Royal Town Planning Institute (2016)
• Alonso Prize (for two major books)

Michael Batty has supervised numerous students and led major research initiatives in urban analytics and spatial modeling. He has secured significant grants related to smart cities and complexity science, though specific grant names are not listed. He founded and leads the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at UCL, a leading interdisciplinary research lab focused on the future of cities.

The CASA research group is a hub for innovation in urban data science, bringing together computer scientists, planners, physicists, and geographers to develop new tools for urban analysis and visualization.