Publications 

2024 

Bai, X. 2024. “A Case for Altruistic Cities.” Science 386(6722). 

 "Achieving deeper and more meaningful intercity cooperation requires altruistic cities—cities that can act with genuine altruistic intent, willing to reach out and help others even in the absence of immediate reward, with the knowledge that once they take the lead, others are likely to follow suit. These cities need to be identified, encouraged, and supported. (link) 

Intercity cooperation and networking are currently limited in depth. Identifying and supporting altruistic cities would help enhance meaningful intercity cooperation. While altruism is a characteristic observed in biological entities, Bai argues that cities have characteristics akin to a superorganism,  and cities do exhibit altruistic behaviours. Bai states that “drawing on concepts from biological altruism can enrich our understanding of city behavior within urban networks” provided the organism metaphor is used flexibly. Altruism is defined as a social behaviour that benefits others at the upfront cost of the performer of the behaviour, with the possibility of enhanced cooperation and an increased likelihood of future survival. Furthermore, the altruistic behaviour of some front runner cities will likely encouraging other cities to do so. However, the cost of an altruistic act by a city may distributed unequally at the expense of the vulnerable, and cities operate on short-term planning which makes meaningful cooperation between cities harder. Nonetheless, the altruistic behaviour of cities could increase cooperation across several issues and can help us all prepare for climate-related hazards and other challenges of the near future.