No label defined (Q4258115)

Human settlements belong to the most complex space-time structures in the world. In settlements there exist many different intertwined and interdependent organisational structures; the evolution of these structures takes place on different scales. Therefore the natural question arises whether this manifold of structures and processes can be ordered according to some principles, for instance the space-time scale or level on which they appear. If this should prove true and if the relation between the levels could be formulated this would provide the justification for considering different windows of perception and for constructing different, nonetheless interrelated, models for each window. We shall see that indeed a separation of levels is indicated and that it is appropriate to comprehend and to connect the development of settlement structures on different scales with separate models. Only in a final stage the models can and should be fused into one integrated model. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0913.00025].