Jochen, there's a lot of work being done between SFI and Los Alamos on
the idea of a city as a complex adaptive system, as an organism. A
city in general obeys some of the rules we understand in biology;
disobeys others. Clearest expression is in a paper that appeared in
the New Scientist in 1997
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19426051-400-ideas--thelifeblood-of-cities.html
I am commuting during rush hour in Manhattan right now (jury duty) and
while I know how brittle the system is, I admire this hundred-plus-
year-old subway and how efficient it is for getting me and millions of
others from far northern Manhattan down to the courts in Tribeca in
less than half an hour.
On Feb 5, 2010, at 6:52 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
This illustration of Manhattan's population reminds me of an MRI
scan. What do you think,
can we draw any connection between cities and complex adaptive
systems in general? They
consume resources and produce waste, grow
and pulsate rhythmically, just like a living organism..
http://gizmodo.com/5336615/manhattan-population-by-day-manhattan-by-night
-J.
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============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
