Public administrations are faced with many challenges due to the increasing complexity of urban environments, societal needs, and a growing demand for efficient services. To meet these challenges, public administrators are turning to data-driven solutions that can model, analyze, and optimize systems characterized by several interdependencies. A powerful tool in this direction is network science, a discipline that studies complex systems by analyzing the relationships between individual components. It has a broad range of applications within public administration, from urban mobility to crisis management and governance network.
What is network science
Network science is the study of complex networks that are built around the relationships between nodes (individual elements) and edges (connections between elements). This field combines a variety of disciplines such as graph theory from mathematics, statistical mechanics from physics, data visualization from computer science, and theories from social sciences to analyze and understand the structure and dynamics of networks. The framework can thus provide new perspectives on governance challenges and open up opportunities for innovative policy solutions.
Figure 1: Sample spatial network for air traffic. Nodes represents airports, while links represents flights.
Urban Mobility Through a Network Lens
Network science has a prominent role in urban mobility because of its potential to transform public administration practices. Large cities struggle with issues such as traffic congestion, inefficient public transportation, and environmental concerns. By conceptualizing mobility systems as networks urban planners can analyze and optimize the way citizens move through cities. In this network representation, roads, intersections, bus routes, and subway stations serve as nodes, and traffic flow or transit schedules serve as edges.
A network-based analysis of this kind enables the identification of critical hubs where inefficiencies or bottlenecks arise. As an example, optimizing bus routes or redesigning road layouts based on traffic patterns can lead to more efficient public transportation and reduce congestion. Additionally, the analysis of shared mobility services (e.g. bike-sharing) allows for an optimized placement of resources.
Figure 2: The London underground network.
Social Networks and Public Communication
Beyond mobility, network science is a powerful tool for optimizing public communication strategies. Information flows through various social networks, where key individuals or groups (also known as “hubs”) serve as influential nodes in the dissemination of information. By mapping and analyzing these networks, public administrators can design more effective communication strategies. Additionally, network analysis allows public officials to identify isolated groups within a community that may not be reached by mainstream communication methods, allowing for more effective and equitable public outreach.
Crisis Management and Emergency Response
Network science can be key in crisis management and emergency response. Indeed, network models can be used to simulate supply chains and optimize the distribution of resources in real-time. For example, network modelling played a prominent role during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was applied to track the spread of the virus and simulate the effects of various interventions, such as social distancing measures or vaccination campaigns.
Systemic Risk in Public Administration
Network science can be used to understand systemic risk, particularly in public infrastructure and financial systems. Systemic risk refers to the potential for disruption in one part of a network (e.g. a critical transportation hub, a supply chain node, or a financial institution) to trigger cascading failures throughout the entire system. Network science allows public administrators to model these interdependencies, identify vulnerabilities, and mitigate the risk of widespread disruption.
Figure 3: The network of top borrower. Credits: Battiston et al. (2012) “Debtrank: Too central to fail? financial networks, the fed and systemic risk.”
Challenges
Despite its numerous applications, the integration of network science into public administration is not without challenges. One of the main issues is data availability. High-quality, granular data on interactions within networks, whether related to mobility, social networks, or institutional relationships, are essential for effective network analysis. Indeed, a model can only be as good as the data that it works with (garbage in, garbage out principle).
Many public agencies lack the infrastructure or technical expertise to collect and manage this data. Privacy concerns also arise, particularly when analyzing personal or community-level data, which require robust frameworks to ensure ethical data use.
Additionally, public administrators need specialized training to fully utilize network science tools. Even when the potential of network science is recognized, public officials can face limitations in terms of the technical capacity needed to implement network-based models and interpret their results. Capacity-building efforts and collaboration with academic institutions can help bridge this gap, enabling public officials to capture the benefits of network science for governance.
Conclusion
As cities and societies become increasingly interconnected and complex, the challenges faced by public administrators grow in magnitude. Network science offers a powerful framework for addressing these challenges by providing insights into the structure and dynamics of the systems at the basis of urban life, governance, and public service. By applying network-based approaches, public administrators can make more informed decisions that enhance efficiency, equity, and resilience across a wide range of policy areas.
