Global City Systems & ICT

Developing GSS for Cities Evolution of intra-city systems Evolution of inter-city systems

Developing GSS for Cities Improving inter-disciplinary communication –Technologist / ICT / Social Scientist gaps Barriers –Emphasis on quantitative modeling – consider unstructured information analysis as bridge –Emphasis on uniqueness – consider development of formal hierarchies of abstraction and scales Formal development of “urban science” –Development of next generation of planners administrators Shaping the futures of specific cities through collaborative narrative development Roles of ICT –Identifying quantitative and qualitative patterns –Understanding how cities work and how people live in cities –Understanding the futures of cities

Evolution of intra-city systems Need for adaptability of cities in era of rapid change – lack of adaptability in traditional design/planning methods Transition from 19 th Century industrial models of service & infrastructure management to 21 st Century decentralised management Emergence of ICT as the fifth utility –Open/closed, centralised/distributed Making the invisible visible –Knowledge aggregation and dissemination –Decentralised decision-making –Improving perceived Quality of Life Changing connectedness –Impacts of high-speed transportation and virtualization/dematerialisation on intra-city and inter-city structures/systems –Maslow’s hierarchy / low -> Local connectedness, physical resources & infrastructure dependencies –Maslow’s hierarchy / high –> Global connectedness, virtual resources & ICT dependencies Roles of ICT –New flexibilities, new dependencies –Governance of information –Impacts on democracy

Evolution of inter-city systems National and global coupling among cities –Decay of 19 th Century “feeder network” model with hierachy of economic roles –End-point of current urbanisation – a small number of mega-cities? Forces driving urbanisation –Resource efficiency, economic opportunity, innovation –Abandonment of countryside –Specialised roles in global ecosystems Countervailing forces –Pollution –Need for diversity in skills and economies –Alternatives to GDP as key metric – Genuine Progress Indicator (M Porter), Better Life Index (OECD) Questions –Can failing cities be brought back to life? –Minimal threshold of size for social & economic survival? –Is there a maximum or optimal size for a city? Role of ICT –Globalised ecosystems –Dematerialisation of work –Macro-economic modeling, policy decisions