--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We form cities in order to enhance…" description: "\"We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to facilitate growth, wealth creation, ideas, innovation, but in so doing, we create, from a physicist'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg" --- # We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to… ![“We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to facilitate growth, wealth creation, ideas, innovation, but in so doing, we create, from a physicist's viewpoint, entropy.” quote by Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg) > “We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to facilitate growth, wealth creation, ideas, innovation, but in so doing, we create, from a physicist's viewpoint, entropy.” [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cities boost interaction and innovation, but they also increase disorder, reflecting a trade‑off between growth and entropy. **In simple terms:** Cities foster growth but also create disorder. Key Takeaway Design systems that manage complexity. Themes urban planning growth entropy innovation Mood analytical optimistic Type theoretical policy When to use this quote - city development - resource allocation - policy making - infrastructure design Key Concepts systems theory complexity science economics Questions to Reflect On - How can cities balance expansion with sustainability? - What policies reduce urban entropy? A Different Perspective Growth can amplify chaos if unmanaged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city/) [Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/create/) [Create Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/create-physicist-5303316/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Doing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing/) [Enhance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enhance/) [Entropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy/) [Facilitate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facilitate/) [Facilitate Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facilitate-growth-926098/) [Form Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form-cities-5303314/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Interaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interaction/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicist/) [Viewpoint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viewpoint/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) [Wealth creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth-creation/) ## Related quotes > [We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to facilitate growth, wealth creation, ideas, innovation, but in so doing, we create from - from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-interaction-to-facilitate-growth/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [In every area, working with what you habitually reject is one of the best ways to facilitate growth and transformation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-glassman/in-every-area-working-with-what-you-habitually-reject-is-one-of-the/) [Bernie Glassman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-glassman/) > [The degree to which I can create relationships, which facilitate the growth of others as separate persons, is a measure of the growth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-degree-to-which-i-can-create-relationships-which-facilitate-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People have different relationships with power. 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Plaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-t-plaatje/) > [I haven't talked to any young artists for a long time. But if we did sit down, I'd definitely tell them my viewpoint. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzi-quatro/i-haven-t-talked-to-any-young-artists-for-a-long-time-but-if-we-did/) [Suzi Quatro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzi-quatro/) > [“Who flies high, easily chooses his target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ljupka-cvetanova/who-flies-high-easily-chooses-his-target/) [Ljupka Cvetanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ljupka-cvetanova/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) ## More by Geoffrey West > [I spent most of my career doing high-energy physics, quarks, dark matter, string theory and so on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/i-spent-most-of-my-career-doing-high-energy-physics-quarks-dark/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [Your cells are not working as hard as your dog's but harder than your horse's. The bigger the animal, the less energy needed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/your-cells-are-not-working-as-hard-as-your-dog-s-but-harder-than-your/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“While exponential growth is a remarkable manifestation of our extraordinary accomplishments as a species, built into it are the potential seeds of our demise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/while-exponential-growth-is-a-remarkable-manifestation-of-our/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [One of the remarkable things about slums is that they do develop their own social organization and economy and even culture that is, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/one-of-the-remarkable-things-about-slums-is-that-they-do-develop/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“The system we have evolved critically relies on people continually wanting new cars and new cell phones, new widgets and gadgets, new clothes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/the-system-we-have-evolved-critically-relies-on-people-continually/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“Cities are sustained by similar network systems such as roads, railways, and electrical lines that transport people, energy, and resources and whose flow is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/cities-are-sustained-by-similar-network-systems-such-as-roads/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [When you look at a city, you know, it looks so unique. 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On”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/it-s-extremely-difficult-to-kill-a-city-on/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“Perhaps, then, the most surprising consequence of a visionary Theory of Everything is that it implies that on the grand scale the universe, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/perhaps-then-the-most-surprising-consequence-of-a-visionary-theory-of/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“It is all too often forgotten that the whole point of a city is to bring people together, to facilitate interaction, and thereby to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/it-is-all-too-often-forgotten-that-the-whole-point-of-a-city-is-to/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“The integration of these two kinds of networks, namely, the requirement that socioeconomic interaction represented by space-filling fractal-like social networks must be anchored to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/the-integration-of-these-two-kinds-of-networks-namely-the-requirement/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“So why do almost all cities remain viable, whereas the vast majority of companies and organisms die?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/so-why-do-almost-all-cities-remain-viable-whereas-the-vast-majority/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“The existence of these remarkable regularities strongly suggests that there is a common conceptual framework underlying all of these very different highly complex phenomena…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/the-existence-of-these-remarkable-regularities-strongly-suggests-that/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“Unfortunately, however, there is another serious catch. 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I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,153 Cities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to facilitate growth, wealth creation, ideas, innovation, but in so doing, we create, from a physicist's viewpoint, entropy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Geoffrey West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-interaction-to-facilitate-growth-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-interaction-to-facilitate-growth-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63c/geoffrey-west-7474_cities_we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-inter_3103420.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We form cities in order to enhance interaction, to facilitate growth, wealth creation, ideas, innovation…” — Geoffrey West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Geoffrey West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We form cities in order to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-interaction-to-facilitate-growth-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/we-form-cities-in-order-to-enhance-interaction-to-facilitate-growth-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```