Week 1 - Cities As Systems Flashcards
Systems theory is a branch of science.. What era did it originate in?
The 1960s. Note how it corresponded with the broader quantitative revolution of geography
What are the four types of system?
Human, living, physical and mechanical
What is a system?
A collection of components under study. They kay be related to each other.
Can components of different cities interact?
Yes, for example mechanical systems interact with human systems
People places and things can very easily be assembled into different ……. .. …….. , at different scales
Systems of Interest
Why is planning services challenging?
Problems are located in polarised places, creating difficulties for planning effectively. Which ‘ideology’ do you follow in providing? Social or economic efficiency?
What is an open system?
A system that has connections to, and is influenced by, the outside world.
What is a closed system?
A system with no connections, or influences from the outside world.
What are most socio/ economic systems?
Open! Much influences
What is Entitation ? And why is it important?
The definition of entities in the system observed. Important as it allows us to see how things are related
What is aggregation, and why is it important?
The level of resolution used to observe the system, for example, is the city one entity, or instead a collection of many entities? The system of regions? A city region and its internal system? ( Wilson, 2010).
Feedback is Important for analysing a system. What is positive feedback, and what could this mean?
The sign of an unstable system… No regulatory controls.
What is negative feedback?
A set of regulatory actions, remains in equilibrium. For example, taxes.
What happens when systems are linear?
A change in one entity leads to a CORRESPONDING change to other entities.
What are non linear systems, are socio economic systems non linear?
A change in one entity can lead to large changes in the corresponding entities.
Name some components of a human, city system?
Population, residential location, job choice, service use.
Related to INFRASTRUCTURE, and TRANSPORT. In turn, these affect the location of services and Job location.
These entities are all part of the link between populations and the economy.
Thinking about the organisation of systems, what would be the characteristics of a simple system?
Small number of components
What is a simple of disorganised complexity?
A system with many components, looses connections
What is a system or organised complexity?
Many components, strong connections. Wilson stipulates that cities are systems of organised complexity (Wilson, 2000) as there are clear links between components and connections.
Control mechanisms in systems: what are they for?
Use to control the outcomes of systems. Eg cruise control on a car, schools criteria for selection etc
urban dynamics, what is it and why is it important?
Cities change temporally, has a number of impacts on systems and geographers interested in in this change and its meaning.
Now think of a city as a complex system. A system has an infrastructure to carry a population, and the activities conducted by human agents occur at unique spatial points. What is the movement of people and services between these points?
SPATIAL INTERACTION - a key component of this damn module!! :)
When Entitation in progress, can group activities into separate organisations, such as?
primary, industrial and domestic, government services etc
When Entitating health services, what organisation does health fall into?
Personal services
After Entitating, what is the next step when looking at systems?
Aggregation, what level of resolution?
When aggregating a system, what levels of resolution can one uses?
Wards, OAs, LSOAs etc. each has its own benefits for when looking at an urban system.
You already know that a city is a complex system, and that spatial interaction is a key component of this, with many origins and destinations. But, what does SPATIAL INTERACTION ALLOW IN A CITY SYSTEM?
Provides a link between all of the independent components in the system.
A nice easy one! What facilitates spatial interaction in a system?
The transport networks and infrastructures!!! Stated by Aiken et al 1987 that systems are dependent on their transport networks.
It is known that spatial interaction is a complex thing, and different perceptions can influence it. What can affect this?
The perceived attractiveness (or need) of the system, and the costs associated with getting to it. This varies on the service that you wish to use.
What can be used to represent a system and and predict the changes of entities? For example… What will the impacts of that hospital closing be?
Spatial interaction models
Chisholme 1967 stated that the systems approach to geographical study was important. true or false?
True
Aiken et al was published in which year?
1987
Aiken et al 1987, states that cities are crucial to systems, as public money gets spent by public agencies where there are more people. What dies this mean in the service system?
That public goods are more likely to be spent here.
Name the academic sources for this lecture.
Wilson (2010)
Chisholm, 1962
Aiken et al 1987
