Saavedra López, MartínPérez Muñuzuri, AlbertoMenéndez, MónicaBalsa Barreiro, José2026-06-052026-06-052024Martín Saavedra, Alberto P. Muñuzuri, Monica Menendez, Jose Balsa-Barreiro; Analysing macroscopic traffic rhythms and city size in affluent cities: insights from a global panel data of 25 cities. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci 16 December 2024; 382 (2285): 20240102. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2024.01021364-503Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/10347/47500The world is undergoing a rapid process of urbanization. Currently, it is estimated that over 55% of the global population resides in urban areas, a figure projected to reach nearly 70% by 2050. This trend is accompanied by a spatial reorganization of human activities on a global scale, bringing about significant changes in mobility patterns and urban traffic management capabilities. Consequently, it is imperative to evaluate, on a broad scale, how city size influences traffic capacity. This study aims to analyse on-road traffic patterns using a diverse dataset comprising cities of varying population sizes, geographical extents and global locations. Specifically, we conduct an analysis encompassing 25 cities primarily situated in several European countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), as well as in North America (Canada) and East Asia (Japan and Taiwan). Our findings shed light on how physical aspects related to urban form influence mobility patterns, offering insights for the implementation of more effective and sustainable traffic management policies.eng© 2024 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are creditedAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Commuting patternsMacroscopic traffic flowsMobility behaviourSocial physicsTraffic rhythmsUrban sprawljournal article10.1098/RSTA.2024.01021471-2962open access