A power-law distribution, especially one that has a nearly universal exponent despite the diversity of characteristics of the different cities considered here, is deemed to be a manifestation of self-organized criticality (SOC) . First coined in the late 1980s, SOC describes dynamic systems that naturally drive themselves into a critical state without any external fine-tuning. It is the same hidden order that governs the frequency of earthquakes, the firing of neurons in the human brain, and the way avalanches collapse .

What makes this discovery remarkable is that SOC has traditionally been observed only in pristine, untouched environments, like wild rainforests . In a crowded metropolis, massive human disruption such as aggressive real estate development and rapid deforestation, among others, occur at a rapid pace compared to the relatively slower natural tree growth cycles. Scientists theorized that these heavy-handed human interventions may interfere with nature's ability to self-organize . Yet, this research proves that the interplay between rapid human activity and slow natural evolution actually contribute to this delicate balance, leading the system into an SOC state. 

To see if this regularity extended beyond the Philippines, the researchers applied their algorithm to other major Southeast Asian capitals, including Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Hanoi. Incredibly, the pattern held true across the entire region, with all cities yielding a nearly identical scaling exponent close to 2. Additionally, many other geographical features of the modern urban metropolis also follow area distributions with power-law exponents close to 2. This "universal" number hints that urban green spaces have become mathematically intertwined with the human-built environment itself. As our cities continue to expand, this study offers a profound shift in perspective: trees are not just passive remnants of urbanization; they are active, self-organizing components of a complex, living urban ecosystem . ◼