Complexity
science is a growing subject. In many spheres of life, new research and
development has given us different ways of looking complex issues –
giving us new ideas, tools and operating systems to deal with their
complexity. In areas such as business, economics, computational studies
and social networks, we can see how multiple agents, working
collectively within a framework of simple rules, can bring about
phenomenal change. This is now a science that is being taken seriously
with some of the most influential thinkers leading the way.
This research and development project (The Project) is funded by the
Royal Commission as part of a two-year Fellowship in the Built
Environment. It looks to evolve the simple rules, conditions and
leadership necessary to deliver a viable human habitat within the
context of an evolved planning system. Its prime purpose is to make a
big difference by clearly showing a different way of dealing with
complex urban environments in such a way that gives us far better
outcomes. Here, practice will lead theory to offer us a strong and
realistic possibility for urban growth and change.
The Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at the University
College London has agreed to host the programme under the mentorship of
Professor Michael Batty, chair of the centre. CASA has excellent links
with Oxford University’s CABDyn Centre at Said Business School, the
Santa Fe Institute, ETH in Zurich, Imperial and the LSE. These are the
institutions that are undertaking interesting work in the areas of
complexity, social innovation and urban governance.
Smart Urbanism looks to resolve the conflicts and potentials that
exist between the ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ processes that shape
urbanism. With our developing knowledge of emergent systems, we have a
better understanding of how order emerges from chaos. It is within this
context that the Project integrates systems thinking with responsive
environments to promote cities and towns that are capable of sustaining
urban life in a continuously changing environment.
Our primary purpose is to build the Smart Urbanism Institute as an
independent, free-thinking, open-source learning platform within an
established educational model, preferably that of the Bartlett at UCL.
Drawing on such models as CASA at UCL, the Sante Fe Institute in the US
and the CABDyn Centre in Oxford – all specialising in complexity science
– the Project is committed to research and development of new theory
and practice in the role of complex adaptive systems in planning, design
and delivery of viable cities, towns and neighbourhoods.
