Cities are central to human history, being the primary engines of innovation and economic growth, yet also major sources of crime, pollution, and disease. The global trend toward urbanization presents a critical challenge for developing predictive theories of urban organization and sustainable development. This study presents empirical evidence showing that urbanization and economic development follow universal scaling laws, with properties like patent production, income, and infrastructure length following power law functions of population size. These scaling exponents, β, fall into distinct universality classes, with β ≈ 1.2 indicating increasing returns for wealth and innovation, and β ≈ 0.8 indicating economies of scale for infrastructure. The pace of social life in cities increases with population size, consistent with data, and cities are compared to biological organisms, where β < 1. The study explores the implications of these scaling relations, deriving growth equations that quantify the difference between growth driven by innovation and that driven by economies of scale. This difference suggests that as population grows, major innovation cycles must accelerate to sustain growth and avoid stagnation or collapse. The findings highlight the importance of understanding urban scaling laws for sustainable development, as they provide quantitative insights into urban dynamics and the need for continuous innovation to maintain growth. The study also discusses the implications of these findings for urban policy, emphasizing the need for realistic targets and accurate measures of urban success. The research underscores the unique human social dynamics that transcend biology, requiring accelerated adaptation to avoid crises. The results suggest that urban scaling relations can provide a framework for understanding and predicting urban growth, with implications for sustainable development and the future of human society.Cities are central to human history, being the primary engines of innovation and economic growth, yet also major sources of crime, pollution, and disease. The global trend toward urbanization presents a critical challenge for developing predictive theories of urban organization and sustainable development. This study presents empirical evidence showing that urbanization and economic development follow universal scaling laws, with properties like patent production, income, and infrastructure length following power law functions of population size. These scaling exponents, β, fall into distinct universality classes, with β ≈ 1.2 indicating increasing returns for wealth and innovation, and β ≈ 0.8 indicating economies of scale for infrastructure. The pace of social life in cities increases with population size, consistent with data, and cities are compared to biological organisms, where β < 1. The study explores the implications of these scaling relations, deriving growth equations that quantify the difference between growth driven by innovation and that driven by economies of scale. This difference suggests that as population grows, major innovation cycles must accelerate to sustain growth and avoid stagnation or collapse. The findings highlight the importance of understanding urban scaling laws for sustainable development, as they provide quantitative insights into urban dynamics and the need for continuous innovation to maintain growth. The study also discusses the implications of these findings for urban policy, emphasizing the need for realistic targets and accurate measures of urban success. The research underscores the unique human social dynamics that transcend biology, requiring accelerated adaptation to avoid crises. The results suggest that urban scaling relations can provide a framework for understanding and predicting urban growth, with implications for sustainable development and the future of human society.