Systems Analysis in Urban Policy-Making and Planning

Systems Analysis in Urban Policy-Making and Planning

Author: Bruce Hutchinson

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 605

ISBN-13: 1461335604

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In September 1980, the Special Programme Panel on Systems Sciences of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sponsored an Advanced Research Institute (ARI) on "Systems Analysis in Urban Policy-Making and Planning" which was held at New College, Univer sity of Oxford, from 21st to 27th September. This week-long meeting brought together 35 invited delegates from most countries of the NATO Alliance to discuss the impact which syst~ms analysis has had and is likely to have on urban affairs. The manuscript was submitted to the publisher in June of 1982. Although the goal of the ARI was to assess the impact of urban systems analysis as seen through the eyes of those closely involved in such work, the meeting also addressed opportunities for future research and development, and therefore in this book we have attempted to synthesize discussions at the meeting with this in mind. But before we describe the structure of this book, it is worth recounting in a little more detail the intentions and organi zation of the meeting, for this has had an important effect on the type of papers produced here, the way they have been written, and the issues they address.


A City Is Not a Computer

A City Is Not a Computer

Author: Shannon Mattern

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-08-10

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 069122675X

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A bold reassessment of "smart cities" that reveals what is lost when we conceive of our urban spaces as computers Computational models of urbanism—smart cities that use data-driven planning and algorithmic administration—promise to deliver new urban efficiencies and conveniences. Yet these models limit our understanding of what we can know about a city. A City Is Not a Computer reveals how cities encompass myriad forms of local and indigenous intelligences and knowledge institutions, arguing that these resources are a vital supplement and corrective to increasingly prevalent algorithmic models. Shannon Mattern begins by examining the ethical and ontological implications of urban technologies and computational models, discussing how they shape and in many cases profoundly limit our engagement with cities. She looks at the methods and underlying assumptions of data-driven urbanism, and demonstrates how the "city-as-computer" metaphor, which undergirds much of today's urban policy and design, reduces place-based knowledge to information processing. Mattern then imagines how we might sustain institutions and infrastructures that constitute more diverse, open, inclusive urban forms. She shows how the public library functions as a steward of urban intelligence, and describes the scales of upkeep needed to sustain a city's many moving parts, from spinning hard drives to bridge repairs. Incorporating insights from urban studies, data science, and media and information studies, A City Is Not a Computer offers a visionary new approach to urban planning and design.


Applied Decision-Making

Applied Decision-Making

Author: Mauricio A. Sanchez

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-05-18

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 3030179850

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This book gathers a collection of the latest research, applications, and proposals, introducing readers to innovations and concepts from diverse environments and systems. As such, it will provide students and professionals alike with not only cutting-edge information, but also new inspirations and potential research directions. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of applied decision making, e.g. in complex systems, computational intelligence, security, and ubiquitous computing.


Urban Complexity and Planning

Urban Complexity and Planning

Author: Professor Haoying Han

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2014-04-28

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 1409474593

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In recent years, there has been a new understanding of how cities evolve and function, which reflects the emergent paradigm of complexity. The crux of this view is that cities are created by differentiated actors involved in individual, small-scale projects interacting in a complex way in the urban development process. This 'bottom up' approach to urban modeling not only transforms our understanding of cities, but also improves our capabilities of harnessing the urban development process. For example, we used to think that plans control urban development in an aggregate, holistic way, but what actually happens is that plans only affect differentiated actors in seeking their goals through information. In other words, plans and regulations set restrictions or incentives of individual behaviour in the urban development process through imposing rights, information, and prices, and the analysis of the effects of plans and regulations must take into account the complex urban dynamics at a disaggregate level of the urban development process. Computer simulations provide a rigorous, promising analytic tool that serves as a supplement to the traditional, mathematical approach to depicting complex urban dynamics. Based on the emergent paradigm of complexity, the book provides an innovative set of arguments about how we can gain a better understanding of how cities emerge and function through computer simulations, and how plans affect the evolution of complex urban systems in a way distinct from what we used to think they should. Empirical case studies focus on the development of a compact urban hierarchy in Taiwan, China, and the USA, but derive more generalizable principles and relationships among cities, complexity, and planning.