Self-organization and the city (Q1963756)

This book integrates the theories of complex self-organizing systems with what may be called ``social theory of cities and urbanism''. The author introduces a new family of heuristic models -- FACS (Free Agents in a Cellular Space) models -- and applies them to study the issue of socio-cultural spatial segregation in cities. Moreover, he develops a synergetic/pattern recognition theory of cities and of decision-making in the context of city planning. Contents of this book are subdivided into the following five parts: I. On cities and urbanism; II. City games; III. Self-organizing planning; IV. Synergetic cities; V. Self-organization and urban revolutions. This book is intended for students of self-organization in general, for scientists working with mathematical models of self-organizing cities and for urbanists in a variety of disciplines such as social geography, architecture, urban and regional planning, econimics, sociology \textit{etc}.