Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age pp 47–62Cite as

Complexity Theories of Cities: Achievements, Criticism and Potentials

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

In this paper I look back at the domain of Complexity theories of cities (CTC) that has emerged over the last three decades. As a practitioner of CTC I look at what has been achieved with appreciation, but also with sober criticism; on the basis of the latter I try to look forward and identify potentials that have yet to be realized.

This paper is taken from Chap. 5of Juval Portugali Complexity, Cognition and the City. Forthcoming 2011, Springer, Heidelberg.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alexander, C.: A city is not a tree. Archit. Forum. 122(1), 58–62 (1965) (Part I), 122(2), 58–62 (Part II). See also in Design. 206, 46–55 (1966); and in: Kaplan, S., Kaplan, R.: Humanscape–environments for people. Ulrich’s Books, Ann Arbor (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I., Angel, S.: A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, New York (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach, F.: Das Gesetz der Bevölkerungskonzentration. Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen 59, 74–76 (1913)

    Google Scholar 

  • Barcellos, A.: Interview of B.B. Mandelbrot. Mathematical People. Birkhaüser, Basel (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  • Batty, M.: Cities and Complexity. Understanding Cities with Cellular Automata, Agent-based Models, and Fractals. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • Batty, M.: The size, scale, and shape of cities. Science 319(5864), 769–771 (2008b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benenson, I., Torrens, P.M.: Geosimulation: Automata Based Modeling for Urban Phenomena. Wiley, New York/London (2004)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M.: The Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell, Malden (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y.: Spatial interaction creates period-doubling bifurcation and chaos of urbanization. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 42, 1316–1325 (2009a)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y.: Urban chaos and perplexing dynamics of urbanization. Lett Spat Resour Sci (2009b). doi:10.1007/s12076-009-0026-8

  • Franklin, S., Grasser, A.: Is it an agent or just a program? A taxonomy for autonomous agents. In: Muller, J.P., Wooldridge, M.J., Jennings, N.R. (eds.) Intelligent Agents III: Agent Theories, Architecture and Languages, pp. 21–35. Springer, Berlin (1997)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D.: Social Justice and the City. Edward Arnold, London (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  • Healey, P.: Urban Complexity and Spatial Strategies: Towards a Relational Planning for Our Times. Routledge, London (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • Holland, J.H.: Complex adaptive systems – a new era in computation (Winter). Daedalus 121(1), 17–30 (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, J.: The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Random House, New York (1961)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitchin, R., Blades, M.: The Cognition of Geographic Space. I.B.Tauris, London (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandelbrot, B., Hudson, R.L.: The (Mis)Behavior of Markets: A Fractal View of Risk, Ruin, and Reward. Basic Books, New York (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Portugali, J.: Inter-representation networks and cognitive maps. In: Portugali, J. (ed.) The Construction of Cognitive Maps, pp. 11–43. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht (1996)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Portugali, J.: Self-Organization and the City. Springer, Berlin/New York/Heidelberg (1999/2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • Portugali, J.: Toward a cognitive approach to urban dynamics. Environment and Planning B, Planning and Design 31(4), 589–613 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portugali, J.: Cognitive maps are over 60. In: Cohn, A.G., Mark, D.M. (eds.) COSIT. LNCS, 3693rd edn, pp. 251–264. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York (2005a)

    Google Scholar 

  • Portugali, J.: Complexity theory as a link between space and place. Environment and Planning A 38(4), 647–664 (2006a)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portugali, J.: Learning from paradoxes about prediction and planning in self-organizing cities. Planning Theory 7(3), 248–262 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I., Stengers, I.: The End of Certainty: Time, Chaos and the New Laws of Nature. Free Press, New York (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki, Y., Box, P.: Agent-based verification of von Thünen’s Location Theory. J. Artif. Society. Soc. Simul. 6(2) http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/6/2/9.html (2003)

  • Snow, C.P.: The Two Cultures and a Second Look. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1964)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thrift, N.: The place of complexity. Theory, Culture and Society 16(3), 31–69 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weidlich, W.: From fast to slow processes in the evolution of urban and regional settlement structures: the role of population pressure. In: Portugali, J. (ed.) Population, Environment and Society on the Verge of the 21st Century. A special theme issue. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 3, 137–147 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, A.G.: Entropy in Urban and Regional Modelling. Pion, London (1970)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESLab (Environmental Simulation Lab), Department of Geography and the Human Environment, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Juval Portugali

  2. Department of Urbanism, TU Delft, Delft, The Netherlands

    Juval Portugali

Authors
  1. Juval Portugali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juval Portugali .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geography, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Juval Portugali

  2. Research laboratory ULab., Urban Design - Theory & Methods, TU Delft, Julianalaan 134, Delft, 2628BL, Netherlands

    Han Meyer

  3. , Environmental Planning and Ecology, TU Delft, Julianalaan 134, Delft, 1628 BL, Netherlands

    Egbert Stolk

  4. , International New Town Institute, TU Delft, Delft, 2600 AA, Netherlands

    Ekim Tan

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Portugali, J. (2012). Complexity Theories of Cities: Achievements, Criticism and Potentials. In: Portugali, J., Meyer, H., Stolk, E., Tan, E. (eds) Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24544-2_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24544-2_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-24543-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-24544-2

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation