The many paths of self-organization

By exploring different cultural roots of self-organisation, the paper points out and discusses the lights and shadows of a concept, which is increasingly used both in mainstream theories and in critical thinking. In so doing, the contribution aims at offering a basic framework for containing and giving sense to the various approaches to self-organization (as they emerge from the two issues of Tracce Urbane, n. 3 and 4, dedicated to that topic), yet sufficiently structured to allow orientation among the variants in which the concept is used in relation with the city. The intent is, therefore, also methodological, and concerns the consistence between theories and concepts, and the heuristics we adopt to analyse and explain spatial phenomena and practices

Understanding, creating, and managing complex techno-socio-economic systems: Challenges and perspectives

Abstract.: This contribution reflects on the comments of Peter Allen [1], Bikas K. Chakrabarti [2], Péter Érdi [3], Juval Portugali [4], Sorin Solomon [5], and Stefan Thurner [6] on three White Papers (WP) of the EU Support Action Visioneer (www.visioneer.ethz.ch). These White Papers are entitled "From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crises” (WP 1) [7], "From Social Simulation to Integrative System Design” (WP 2) [8], and "How to Create an Innovation Accelerator” (WP 3) [9]. In our reflections, the need and feasibility of a "Knowledge Accelerator” is further substantiated by fundamental considerations and recent events around the globe. newpara The Visioneer White Papers propose research to be carried out that will improve our understanding of complex techno-socio-economic systems and their interaction with the environment. Thereby, they aim to stimulate multi-disciplinary collaborations between ICT, the social sciences, and complexity science. Moreover, they suggest combining the potential of massive real-time data, theoretical models, large-scale computer simulations and participatory online platforms. By doing so, it would become possible to explore various futures and to expand the limits of human imagination when it comes to the assessment of the often counter-intuitive behavior of these complex techno-socio-economic-environmental systems. In this contribution, we also highlight the importance of a pluralistic modeling approach and, in particular, the need for a fruitful interaction between quantitative and qualitative research approaches. newpara In an appendix we briefly summarize the concept of the FuturICT flagship project, which will build on and go beyond the proposals made by the Visioneer White Papers. EU flagships are ambitious multi-disciplinary high-risk projects with a duration of at least 10 years amounting to an envisaged overall budget of 1 billion EUR [10]. The goal of the FuturICT flagship initiative is to understand and manage complex, global, socially interactive systems, with a focus on sustainability and resilienc

Simulating city growth by using the cellular automata algorithm

The objective of this thesis is to develop and implement a Cellular Automata (CA) algorithm to simulate urban growth process. It attempts to satisfy the need to predict the future shape of a city, the way land uses sprawl in the surroundings of that city and its population. Salonica city in Greece is selected as a case study to simulate its urban growth. Cellular automaton (CA) based models are increasingly used to investigate cities and urban systems. Sprawling cities may be considered as complex adaptive systems, and this warrants use of methodology that can accommodate the space-time dynamics of many interacting entities. Automata tools are well-suited for representation of such systems. By means of illustrating this point, the development of a model for simulating the sprawl of land uses such as commercial and residential and calculating the population who will reside in the city is discussed

Social and Institutional Innovation in Self-Organising Cities

Today’s scenario is characterized by a global connectivity space where uninterrupted streams of information, people, and goods flow, through multi-scale socio-economic processes. All of this requires rethinking well-accepted mental frames as individual capabilities, businesses actions, social and spatial agglomerations evolve in a new and unceasingly changing landscape. This book contributes to the debate on how cities are redefined in relation to the global connective space and the so-called knowledge-based economy. The authors explore the variable set of functional changes, which are intrinsically linked to the multiplicity of multi-scale processes. The book contains the proceedings of the conference “New sciences and actions for complex cities (Florence, Italy 14-15 December 2017)”

Future places of business in Turku city center : adaptive cycle analysis and Futures Workshop

Cities are economic hubs, places for enjoyment, social events, culture and consumerism. However, contemporary cities are difficult to understand, and picturing their long-term futures is challenging mainly due to the complex and diverse nature of the city as a whole. The aim of this Master’s thesis is to study the long-term future (up to year 2050) of places of business in Turku city center. The particular study cases are the market square and its surroundings and a pedestrian shopping street, typical spaces which can be found from numerous other city centers as well. These case studies are researched in the context of complexity theories using two analytical methods, one from complexity theories and one from futures studies. The first method is the adaptive cycle analysis which was conducted as a desktop study. The purpose was to find information related to the past and the present phases of the case studies. The second method was a Futures Workshop which was conducted as a participatory expert workshop. The reason for combining the theories of complexity and the analytical methods of the adaptive cycle and the Futures Workshop, was to form a new participatory and transdisciplinary method for studying urban fragments, such as the places of business. This research produced a number of key findings: from the perspective of the analysis of adaptive cycles the marketplace and its surroundings is at the release phase of the current adaptive cycle phase. The pedestrian shopping street is at the conservation phase. The main conclusions drawn from the futures workshop concerning how to be succeed in the future are: widening the use of the market square and at the same time expanding the timeframe of use and making the area more attractive and accessible for citizens by creating better connections between the surrounding buildings and the market square, by planting trees and restricting automobile traffic in the area. For the pedestrian shopping street the suggested measures are: an inclusive and attractive place for every citizen and the sold goods and services as well as the places of business are flexible and work in cooperation so they can adapt to changes in consumer habits. This research has utilized complexity theories using qualitative methods, rather than applied quantitative methods, and has combined two different analytical methods from different disciplines in order to contribute to the study of cities. This study, with complexity theories in the urban context as well as futures studies, has taken a step towards fostering better understanding of the characteristics of successful places of business in the future.Kaupungit ovat talouden, palvelujen, elämysten, sosiaalisten tapahtumien, kulttuurin ja kuluttamisen keskittymiä. Kaupungin kokonaisuuden ymmärtäminen ja pitkän aikavälin tulevaisuuden hahmottaminen on haasteellista. Suurelta osin tämä johtuu kaupunkien kompleksisuudesta ja monimuotoisuudesta. Tämän Pro gradu -tutkielman tarkoituksena on tutkia Turun kaupungin keskustan liikepaikkojen pitkän aikavälin tulevaisuutta (vuoteen 2050 asti). Erityisinä tutkimuskohteina on kaksi liikepaikkojen keskittymää, tori ja sen ympäristö sekä kävelykatu. Nämä ideaalityypit on löydettävissä myös monien muiden kaupunkien keskustoista. Näitä kahta tutkimuskohdetta tutkittiin kompleksisuusteoreettisesta näkökulmasta käyttäen apuna kahta eri metodia. Ensimmäinen metodi oli kompleksisuusteoriaan perustuva adaptive cycle analysis (kiertokulun analyysi), jota käytettiin menneisyyden ja nykytilan analysointiin. Toisena metodina käytettiin tulevaisuuden tutkimuksen metodia, tulevaisuusverstas. Tulevaisuusverstas toteutettiin asiantuntijatyöpajana. Näiden kahden eri metodin yhdistelmänä oli tarkoitus luoda uusi kvalitatiivinen, osallistava ja poikkitieteellinen tapa tutkia kaupunkikontekstissa esiintyviä kokonaisuuksia (urban fragment), kuten liikepaikkojen keskittymiä. Tämä tutkielma tuotti monenlaisia tuloksia: menneisyyden ja nykytilan analyysin mukaan tori ja sen ympäristö on luovan tuhon vaiheessa (release) ja kävelykatu on kypsyysvaiheessa. Pääkohdat tulevaisuuden menestyvät liikepaikat -työpajasta olivat: torin käyttöä pitää laajentaa monimuotoisemmaksi ja samalla myös sen aikajännettä ja ympärivuotista käyttöä tulee lisätä. Torista ja sen ympäristöstä pitää tehdä mielenkiintoisempi ja helposti saavutettava kokonaisuutena, esimerkiksi lisäämällä vehreyttä ja rajoittamalla autoliikennettä sekä parantamalla alueen rakennusten yhteyttä toriin. Kävelykadun osalta pidettiin tärkeänä inklusiivisuutta ja vetovoimaisuutta kaikkien ikäluokkien näkökulmasta. Myytävien tavaroiden ja palvelujen sekä kiinteistöjen näkökulmasta joustavuus ja yhteistyö nähtiin tärkeinä elementteinä muuttuviin kulutustapoihin sopeutumisessa. Tämä tutkielma tuotti monia vastauksia tulevaisuuden menestyvien liikepaikkojen ominaisuuksiin liittyen, hyödyntäen siihen kompleksisuusteoriaa, tulevaisuuden tutkimusta ja erityisesti niiden kahta kvalitatiivista metodia

From Smart Cities To Playable Cities. Towards Playful Intelligence In The Urban Environment

In the last decade, we have seen the rise of urban play as a tool for community building, and city-making and Western society is actively focusing on play/playfulness and intelligent systems as a way to approach complex challenges and emergent situations. In this paper, we aim to initiate a dialogue between game scholars and architects. Like many creative professions, we believe that the architectural practice may benefit significantly from having more design methodologies at hand, thus improving lateral thinking. We aim at providing new conceptual and operative tools to discuss and reflect on how games and smart systems facilitate long-term the shift from the Smart Cities to the Playable one, where citizens/players have the opportunity to hack the city and use the smart city’s data and digital technology for their purposes to reactivate the urban environment

Self-organisation and meaning of urban structures: case study of Jewish communities in central Poland in pre-war times

[EN] In spatial, social and cultural pluralism, the questions of human intentionality and socio-spatial emergence remain central to social theory (Portugali 2000, p.142). The correlation between individual preferences, values and intentions, and actual behaviour and actions, is subject to Portugali’s theory of self-organisation (2000). Compared to Gidden’s structuralism, which focuses on society and groups, the point of departure for Portugali (2000) are individuals and their personal choices. The key feature in how complex systems `self-organise', is that they `interpret', the information that comes from the environment (Portugali 2006). The current study explores the urban environment formerly inhabited, and largely constructed, by Jews in two central Polish districts: Mazovia and Lodz, before the tragedy of the Holocaust. While the Jewish presence lasted from the 11th century until the outbreak of World War II, the most intensive development took place in the 19th century, together with the civilisation changes introduced by industrialisation. Embracing the everyday habits of Jewish citizens endows the neighbourhood structures they once inhabited with long gone meanings, the information layer which once helped organise everyday life. The main thesis reveals that Jewish communities in pre-war Poland represented an example of a self-organising society, one which could be considered a prototype of contemporary postmodern cultural complexity. The mapping of this complexity at the scale of a neighbourhood is a challenge, a method for which is addressed in the current paper. The above considerations are in line with the empirical studies of the relations between Jews and Poles, especially in large cities, where more complex socio-cultural processes could have occurred.The current study is a part of the research project financed by The National Science Centre of Poland UMO-2011/03/D/HS3/01630, entitled: “Morphological analysis of urban structures – the cultural approach. Case studies of Jewish communities in the chosen settlements of Lodz and Masovian voivodeships”. Part of the methodological research was performed in SENSEable City Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology within the framework of a Fulbright Senior Research AwardHanzl, M. (2018). Self-organisation and meaning of urban structures: case study of Jewish communities in central Poland in pre-war times. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 187-198. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.5098OCS18719