The city is a complex entity. Complex systems’ ability to survive is dependent upon
their ability to adapt. They work efficiently and yet are always on the edge of collapse,
of chaos. Their operation allows small collapses to occur constantly. This in turn prevents
a larger collapse; just like in natural systems such as ecosystems and nervous
systems. The same thinking should be brought into urban planning. We must garner
knowledge from nature in order to develop new urban planning practices. Both on a
small and a large scale.
By focusing on action and the design of cycles rather than aesthetic objects, we can
create a city with many values and the ability to regulate itself when crises arise. We
do not know how the infrastructure of the future will look, how residential patterns
will change, and how social, economic and cultural factors will inevitably shift. This
makes planning difficult. We cannot account for all changes. We need to find solutions
that work now and can be gradually
