Urban Space Development Self-Organization and Urban Planning-Spatial Research 2

Author: Zhang Yongqiang / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: 2.2 Self-Organizing Urban Development Concept Cities have evolved from nothing to something, from simple to complex, and from primitive to advanced. As a "social material system with a non-agricultural population as the main body, highly concentrated in population, economy, politics, and culture," cities have their own essence and characteristics, as well as their own growth mechanisms and operational laws. In the evolution of the urban system, an invisible natural force plays a dominant and controlling role, its self-organization and spontaneous movement not being subject to human will. In the terminology of self-organization theory, this is referred to as the action of some order parameter or dynamic mode. Below, I will establish a self-organizing urban development concept based on the definition of "self-organization" elaborated above, through discussions on three aspects: the urban system and urban structure, the dissipative structure characteristics of the urban system, and the "non-specific" interventions in urban structure formation.
2.2.1 Urban System and Urban Structure Cities are multi-objective, multi-level, multi-functional, and dynamic complex systems. To discuss the self-organizing evolution of urban development, it is necessary to have an overall understanding of the urban system and its structural characteristics. The urban system and urban structure are two easily confused concepts. The urban system emphasizes the dynamic interactions between cities and their internal elements, while the urban structure emphasizes the relatively stable relationships formed among the internal elements of the city. The two interact through urban functions. When the urban structure fully meets the necessary functions of the urban system, it can be considered that the urban system is in a balanced and orderly state within a relatively stable urban structure. However, when the urban structure cannot fully meet the functional requirements of the urban system, forces emerge within the urban system to change urban functions, leading the urban structure to become disordered until a new ordered structure forms.
1) Dynamic Complexity – Urban System From an ontological perspective, the urban system is an organic body composed of interacting urban elements. Any urban system is a "natural-economic and social" composite system, formed by the interrelation and coupling of natural subsystems (elements), social subsystems (elements), and economic subsystems (elements), creating an ordered and complex artificial system. Within the urban system, natural elements, social elements, and economic elements, as well as their surrounding environment, continuously exchange and transmit matter, energy, and information in the form of "flows" (such as population flow, material flow, energy flow, information flow, economic flow, etc.). These flows not only maintain the relationship between the system and its environment but also maintain the relationships among the internal elements of the system, forming a dynamic and ordered open system.
Urban Natural System: In the current context, the urban natural system is a product of the transformation of nature, so cities are highly artificialized ecosystems. As a subsystem of the urban system, the urban natural system, on one hand, provides material and spatial support for urban development, as well as material and energy support. On the other hand, due to the objective conditions of the system itself, it regulates or limits the scale and form of urban development, while also constituting unique urban landscape characteristics. P24