1,414 research outputs found
Managing Diversity in a Glocalizing World
Our daily lives are governed by products and images originating from all over the world, through the process of globalization. At the same time, however, globalization creates favourable conditions for all forms of particularization, localization and even fragmentation. While individuals and groups acquire mul-tiple identities, the resulting plurality gives rise to conflicts, controversies and variations, but also to attempts to live peacefully together, to co-ordinate activities, and to balance interests. The paper thus suggests (1) a plea for compatibility â instead of commonality - with regard to cultural values and (2) a strong emphasis on the interaction model in decision making, i.e. a model which does not advocate uniformity, but the compatibility of views, and in particular, practices. It concerns the coordination and combination of the proper interests of the various actors who have to depend on one another for the satisfaction of their demands or the realization of their objectives.Managing diversity, globalization, localization, glocalization, compatibility, interaction model
Complex Adaptive Systems & Urban Morphogenesis:
This thesis looks at how cities operate as Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). It focuses on how certain characteristics of urban form can support an urban environment's capacity to self-organize, enabling emergent features to appear that, while unplanned, remain highly functional. The research is predicated on the notion that CAS processes operate across diverse domains: that they are âgeneralized' or âuniversal'. The goal of the dissertation is then to determine how such generalized principles might âplay out' within the urban fabric. The main thrust of the work is to unpack how elements of the urban fabric might be considered as elements of a complex system and then identify how one might design these elements in a more deliberate manner, such that they hold a greater embedded capacity to respond to changing urban forces. The research is further predicated on the notion that, while such responses are both imbricated with, and stewarded by human actors, the specificities of the material characteristics themselves matter. Some forms of material environments hold greater intrinsic physical capacities (or affordances) to enact the kinds of dynamic processes observed in complex systems than others (and can, therefore, be designed with these affordances in mind). The primary research question is thus:
What physical and morphological conditions need to be in place within an urban environment in order for Complex Adaptive Systems dynamics arise - such that the physical components (or âbuilding blocks') of the urban environment have an enhanced capacity to discover functional configurations in space and time as a response to unfolding contextual conditions?
To answer this question, the dissertation unfolds in a series of parts. It begins by attempting to distill the fundamental dynamics of a Complex Adaptive System. It does so by means of an extensive literature review that examines a variety of highly cited âdefining principles' or âkey attributes' of CAS. These are cross-referenced so as to extract common features and distilled down into six major principles that are considered as the generalized features of any complex system, regardless of domain. In addition, this section considers previous urban research that engages complexity principles in order to better position the distinctive perspective of this thesis. This rests primarily on the dissertation's focus on complex urban processes that occur by means of materially enabled in situ processes. Such processes have, it is argued, remained largely under-theorized. The opening section presents introductory examples of what might be meant by a âmaterially enabling' environment.
The core section of the research then undertakes a more detailed unpacking of how complex processes can be understood as having a morphological dimension. This section begins by discussing, in broad terms, the potential âphase space' of a physical environment and how this can be expanded or limited according to a variety of factors. Drawing insights from related inquiries in the field of Evolutionary Economic Geography, the research argues that, while emergent capacity is often explored in social, economic, or political terms, it is under-theorized in terms of the concrete physical sub-strata that can also act to âcarry' or âmoor' CAS dynamics. This theme is advanced in the next article, where a general framework for speaking about CAS within urban environments is introduced. This framework borrows from the terms for âimageability' that were popularized by Kevin Lynch: paths, edges, districts, landmarks, and nodes. These terms are typically associated with physical or âobject-like features' of the urban environment â that is to say, their image. The terminology is then co-opted such that it makes reference not simply to physical attributes, but rather to the complex processes these attributes enable. To advance this argument, the article contrasts the static and âimageable' qualities of New Urbanism projects with the âunfolding' and dynamic qualities of complex systems - critiquing NU proponents as failing to appreciate the underlying forces that generate the environments they wish to emulate. Following this, the efficacy of the re-purposed âLynchian' framework is tested using the case study of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar. Here, specific elements of the Bazaar's urban fabric are positioned as holding material agency that enables particular emergent spatial phenomena to manifest. In addition, comparisons are drawn between physical dynamics unfolding within the Bazaar's morphological setting (leading to emergent merchant districts) and parallel dynamics explored within Evolutionary Economic Geography).
The last section of the research extends this research to consider digitally augmented urban elements that hold an enhanced ability to receive and convey information. A series of speculative thought-experiments highlight how augmented urban entities could employ CAS dynamics to âsolve for' different kinds of urban optimization scenarios, leading these material entities to self-organize (with their users) and discover fit regimes. The final paper flips the perspective, considering how, not only material agency, but also human agency is being augmented by new information processing technologies (smartphones), and how this can lead to new dances of agency that in turn generate novel emergent outcomes.
The dissertation is based on a compilation of articles that have, for the most part, been published in academic journals and all the research has been presented at peer-reviewed academic conferences. An introduction, conclusion, and explanatory transitions between sections are provided in order to clarify the narrative thread between the sections and the articles. Finally, a brief âcoda' on the spatial dynamics afforded by Turkish Tea Gardens is offered
The Connected Caribbean
The modern-day Caribbean is a stunningly diverse but also intricately interconnected geo-cultural region, resulting partly from the islandsâ shared colonial histories and an increasingly globalizing economy. Perhaps more importantly, before the encounter between the New and Old World took place, the indigenous societies and cultures of the pre-colonial Caribbean were already united in diversity. This work seeks to study the patterns of this pre-colonial homogeneity and diversity and uncover some of their underlying processes and dynamics. In contrast to earlier studies of its kind, this study adopts an archaeological network approach, in part derived from the network sciences. In archaeology, network approaches can be used to explore the complex relations between objects, sites or other archaeological features, and as such represents a powerful new tool for studying material culture systems. Archaeological research in general aims to uncover the social relations and human interactions underlying these material culture systems. Therefore, the interdependencies between social networks and material culture systems are another major focus of this study. This approach and theoretical framework is tested in four case studies dealing with lithic distribution networks, site assemblages as ego-networks, indigenous political networks, and the analysis of artefact styles in 2-mode networks. These were selected for their pertinence to key research themes in Caribbean archaeology, in particular the current debates about the nature of ties and interactions between culturally different communities in the region, and the structure and dynamics of pre-colonial socio-political organisation. The outcomes of these case studies show that archaeological network approaches can provide surprising new insights into longstanding questions about the patterns of pre-colonial connectivity in the region
The role of interactional and cognitive mechanisms in the evolution of (proto)language(s)
This paper discusses the role of interactional and cognitive mechanisms in the emergence of (proto)linguistic structures and the evolution of (proto)language(s). Both the social, interactive nature of human communication and the interactional timescale have received increasing attention in investigations of how structure emerges in language. This has also led to an increasing focus on the mechanisms involved in the dialogic co-construction of structure and meaning in interaction. These include ad hoc constructionalization, interactive alignment, conceptual pacts, reuse and modification, and local forms of entrenchment, routinisation and schematisation. Interactional and cognitive mechanisms like these do not only play a crucial role in the emergence of structure in modern languages. They can also help explain how the first (proto)constructions came into being in hominin interaction. Frequently re-occuring, temporary, local (proto)construc- tions acquired increasing degrees of entrenchment, which led to their subsequent diffusion throughout hominin communities. They were then subject to processes of conventionalisation and cumulative cultural evolution. This process is hypothesised to eventually have led to the gradual transition from protolanguage to languag
Human behaviour modelling in complex socio-technical systems : an agent based approach
For many years we have been striving to understand human behaviour and our interactions with our socio-technological environment. By advancing our knowledge in this area, we have helped the design of new or improved work processes and technologies. Historically, much of the work in analysing social interactions has been conducted within the social sciences. However, computer simulation has brought an extra tool in trying to understand and model human behaviours. Using an agent based approach this presentation describes my work in constructing computational models of human behaviour for informing design through simulation. With examples from projects in two main application areas of crisis and emergency management, and energy management I describe how my work addresses some main issues in agent based social simulation. The first concerns the process by which we develop these models. The second lies in the nature of socio-technical systems. Human societies are a perfect example of a complex system exhibiting characteristics of self-organisation, adaptability and showing emergent phenomena such as cooperation and robustness. I describe how complex systems theory may be applied to improve our understanding of socio-technical systems, and how our micro level interactions lead to emergent mutual awareness for problem-solving. From agent based simulation systems I show how context awareness may be modelled. Looking forward to the future, I discuss how the increasing prevalence of artificial agents in our society will cause us to re-examine the new types of interactions and cooperative behaviours that will emerge.Depuis de nombreuses annĂ©es, nous nous sommes efforcĂ©s de comprendre le comportement humain et nos interactions avec l'environnement sociotechnique. GrĂące Ă l'avancĂ©e de nos connaissances dans ce domaine, nous avons contribuĂ© Ă la conception de technologies et de processus de travail nouveaux ou amĂ©liorĂ©s. Historiquement, une part importante du travail d'analyse des interactions sociales fut entreprise au sein des sciences sociales. Cependant, la simulation informatique a apportĂ© un nouvel outil pour tenter de comprendre et de modĂ©liser les comportements humains. En utilisant une approche Ă base d'agents, cette prĂ©sentation dĂ©crit mon travail sur la construction de modĂšles informatiques du comportement humain pour guider la conception par la simulation. A l'aide d'exemples issus de projets des deux domaines d'application que sont la gestion des crises et de l'urgence et la gestion de l'Ă©nergie, je dĂ©cris comment mon travail aborde certains problĂšmes centraux Ă la simulation sociale Ă base d'agents. Le premier concerne le processus par lequel nous dĂ©veloppons ces modĂšles. Le second problĂšme provient de la nature des systĂšmes sociotechniques. Les sociĂ©tĂ©s humaines constituent un exemple parfait de systĂšme complexe possĂ©dant des caractĂ©ristiques d'auto-organisation et d'adaptabilitĂ©, et affichant des phĂ©nomĂšnes Ă©mergents tels que la coopĂ©ration et la robustesse. Je dĂ©cris comment la thĂ©orie des systĂšmes complexes peut ĂȘtre appliquĂ©e pour amĂ©liorer notre comprĂ©hension des systĂšmes sociotechniques, et comment nos interactions au niveau microscopique mĂšnent Ă l'Ă©mergence d'une conscience mutuelle pour la rĂ©solution de problĂšmes. A partir de systĂšmes de simulation Ă base d'agents, je montre comment la conscience du contexte peut ĂȘtre modĂ©lisĂ©e. En terme de perspectives, j'expliquerai comment la hausse de la prĂ©valence des agents artificiels dans notre sociĂ©tĂ© nous forcera Ă considĂ©rer de nouveaux types d'interactions et de comportements coopĂ©ratifs
Naturalizing institutions: Evolutionary principles and application on the case of money
In recent extensions of the Darwinian paradigm into economics, the replicator-interactor duality looms large. I propose a strictly naturalistic approach to this duality in the context of the theory of institutions, which means that its use is seen as being always and necessarily dependent on identifying a physical realization. I introduce a general framework for the analysis of institutions, which synthesizes Searle's and Aoki's theories, especially with regard to the role of public representations (signs) in the coordination of actions, and the function of cognitive processes that underly rule-following as a behavioral disposition. This allows to conceive institutions as causal circuits that connect the population-level dynamics of interactions with cognitive phenomena on the individual level. Those cognitive phenomena ultimately root in neuronal structures. So, I draw on a critical restatement of the concept of the meme by Aunger to propose a new conceptualization of the replicator in the context of institutions, namely, the replicator is a causal conjunction between signs and neuronal structures which undergirds the dispositions that generate rule-following actions. Signs, in turn, are outcomes of population-level interactions. I apply this framework on the case of money, analyzing the emotions that go along with the use of money, and presenting a stylized account of the emergence of money in terms of the naturalized Searle-Aoki model. In this view, money is a neuronally anchored metaphor for emotions relating with social exchange and reciprocity. Money as a meme is physically realized in a replicator which is a causal conjunction of money artefacts and money emotions. --Generalized Darwinism,institutions,replicator/interactor,Searle,Aoki,naturalism,memes,emotions,money
Climate change policy and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Energy is of fundamental importance for modern industrialised economies. Access to affordable energy is vital for the services we enjoy â from keeping warm to cooking our food, the ability to travel to providing entertainment. In recent years, policy concerns about the availability, security and affordability of energy have once again risen up the agenda. Energy prices have risen dramatically, and the UK has returned to the club of net energy importers after twenty years in which production exceeded consumption.
Since the early 2000s, climate change has been at the heart of energy policy debates. Unlike some industrialised countries (notably Australia and the United States), the UKâs energy and climate change policies have been underpinned by a strong degree of cross-party consensus, with all the main political parties in agreement that something must be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This consensus has been reinforced by the increasing strength of climate science and evidence to suggest that action on emissions is in the UKâs economic interest (Stern 2006). Armed with a comprehensive case for emissions cuts, the UKâs political parties have often competed with each other to propose tougher policies and laws. For this reason, the UK has some of the most ambitious targets for emissions reduction in the world, with legal backing through the Climate Change Act 2009
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