Big cities are the most complex systems ever created.

Big cities have fascinated me since I was a child. This fascination was an early manifestation of my affinity for systems thinking. But I ended up pursuing a career in computer science and systems engineering rather than in urban studies and city planning.

After I retired, my husband and I moved to his hometown of Lima Peru for a few months. I was finally living in a big city. And not just any big city! From both a systems engineering and an urban studies point of view, Lima is the most interesting city in the world.

These blog entries describe my experiences in the city and my thoughts on various aspects of urban studies and planning: