[mwsherman]

Another word for complexity is diversity. Resilience comes from that complexity. Very much like biology.

NYC (where I live) is wildly inefficient, except at delivering benefits that millions of people consider worthwhile.

[endswapper]

Your point is a step in the right direction. Life is complex and diverse. Cities serve as models. Daily life is a test of the inputs and results. Every day they can be reconfigured and the data analyzed.