Cities As/ A System

Cybernetics And Traditional Planning

The advent of cybernetics and the progression of information technology in the previous century have led to a growing perception that conventional urban planning methods are becoming increasingly inadequate.Hall describes the impact of cybernetic thinking on urban planning, a development that he terms ‘cybernated planning’ (Hall, 1992, p. 6). This emerged out of traditional, formalist ideas of planning as production of plans for the future desired state of the area and ‘towards the new idea of planning as a continuous series of controls over the development of the area, aided by devices which seek to model or simulate the process of the development so that this control can be applied’ (Hall, 1992, p. 5). Moreover, the impact of cybernetics on urban planning can also be seen in the conceptualization of the city as a system, as demonstrated by models such as the "plug-in city" and Crompton's "Computer City Project" from 1964. It is also interesting to note that an early use of the term ‘smart city’ by Hall in later literature as:

Designed, constructed and maintained, making use of advanced, integrated materials, sensors, electronics, and networks which are interfaced with computerized systems com[1]prised of databases, tracking, and decision-making algorithms … At the most superficial level is the fundamental component and its associated "feedback" or self-monitoring mechanism(s).

It is evidenced that Cybernetics, as well as the concept of smart cities, had a significant impact on urban planning approaches and introduced a technologically informed system thinking to address what was perceived as 'wicked' problems of urban complexity.