Chaos and chaos: the city as a complex phenomenon

  • Carmela Gargiulo Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6481-0908
  • Rocco Papa Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3355-1418
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/8273
Keywords: Complexity theory, Urban system, Entropy

Abstract

To say that the city is a dynamically complex system is to affirm that the city can be traced back to a set of components in relation to each other (system), that the processes of the system cannot be managed and controlled with deterministic tools (complex system) and, lastly, that the future evolution of the city-system cannot be predicted linearly on the basis of knowledge of the initial conditions (dynamically complex system). The degree of complexity reached by the city, as a modern expression of collective life, is such that it is unable to provide a compatible and adequate solution to the problems of the "city-system", which is subject, like all systems, to processes of entropy maximisation.

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Author Biographies

Carmela Gargiulo, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II

Full professor of Urban Planning Techniques at the University of Naples Federico II. Since 1987 she has been involved in studies on the management of urban and territorial transformations. Since 2004, she has been Member of the Researcher Doctorate in Hydraulic, Transport and Territorial Systems Engineering of the University of Naples “Federico II”. Her research interests focus on the processes of urban requalification, on relationships between urban transformations and mobility, and on the estate exploitation produced by urban transformations. On these issues she has coordinated many research groups as scientific manager of operational units or as principal investigator of competitive projects. As scientific manager of the Dicea-University of Naples Federico II operative unit: “Impacts of mobility policies on urban transformability, environment and real estate market” from 2011 to 2013, as part of the PRIN project; Cariplo Foundation project “MOBILAGE. Mobility and aging: support networks for daily life and welfare at the neighborhood level "2018-2020; ERASMUS + Key Action2: Project "Development of a Master Program in the Management of Industrial Entrepreneurship for Transition Countries" (MIETC), with European and Asian partners 2020-2022. As Principal Investigator of the Smart Energy Master Project for territorial energy management funded by PON 04A2_00120 R&C Axis II, from 2012 to 2015. Author of over 150 publications.

Rocco Papa, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II

Emeritus of Land Use Planning at the University of Naples Federico II. Editor-in-Chief of the Scientific Journal TeMA - Land Use, Mobility and Environment since 2007. Director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DiPiST) of the University Federico II of Naples, from 1999 to 2005. Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Naples, from 2001 to 2006. City Councilor for Livability (appointed to Town Planning and Historical Centre) for the Naples Municipality, from 1997 to 2006. Research activity, carried out continuously since 1974, has developed according to the following four main lines: the study of the interactions between urban and mobility systems; the management and governance of metropolitan areas; the safeguard of environmental quality in highly urbanized areas; the experimentation of new protocols for urban planning tools connected with the updating of techniques, methods and models of analyses, interpretation, planning and governance of territory. As City Councilor for Livability (appointed to Town Planning and Historical Centre) for the Naples Municipality he has developed in detail the following projects: the approval and implementation of the new Master Plan of Naples, the restoration and requalification of the “Real Albergo dei Poveri” and of the “SS. Trinità delle Monache”, the implementation of the Line 1 and Line 6 of the Metropolitan Railway. He is the author of more than 150 publications.

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Published
2021-08-31
How to Cite
GargiuloC., & PapaR. (2021). Chaos and chaos: the city as a complex phenomenon. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 14(2), 261-270. https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/8273
Issue
Vol 14 No 2 (2121): The city challenges and external agents. Methods, tools and best practices
Section
Evergreen

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