%0 Journal Article %1 coward2004iac %A Coward, L. Andrew %A Salingaros, Nikos A. %D 2004 %J Journal of Information Science %K architecture cities complexity design information theory urban %N 2 %P 107 %T The Information Architecture of Cities %U http://applied.math.utsa.edu/~salingar/InfoCities.html %V 30 %X Cities can be viewed as information architecture systems. Here, ärchitecture" is used in the sense of computer architecture -- it refers not to the design of buildings, but to how the components of a complex system interact. Information exchange includes the movement of people and goods, personal contact and interactions, telecommunications, as well as visual input from the environment. Information networks provide a basis for understanding living cities and for diagnosing urban problems. This paper argues that a city works less like an electronic computer, and more like the human brain. As a functionally complex system, it heuristically defines its own functionality by changing connections so as to optimize how components interact. An effective city will be one with a system architecture that can respond to changing conditions. This analysis shifts the focus of understanding cities from their physical structure to the flow of information.

@article{coward2004iac, abstract = {Cities can be viewed as information architecture systems. Here, "architecture" is used in the sense of computer architecture -- it refers not to the design of buildings, but to how the components of a complex system interact. Information exchange includes the movement of people and goods, personal contact and interactions, telecommunications, as well as visual input from the environment. Information networks provide a basis for understanding living cities and for diagnosing urban problems. This paper argues that a city works less like an electronic computer, and more like the human brain. As a functionally complex system, it heuristically defines its own functionality by changing connections so as to optimize how components interact. An effective city will be one with a system architecture that can respond to changing conditions. This analysis shifts the focus of understanding cities from their physical structure to the flow of information.}, added-at = {2007-06-03T19:19:01.000+0200}, author = {Coward, L. Andrew and Salingaros, Nikos A.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/21107ccd5d92897609500a702b2436fde/yish}, interhash = {f5b9c67b78ff9840d15d564930d9b92c}, intrahash = {1107ccd5d92897609500a702b2436fde}, journal = {Journal of Information Science}, keywords = {architecture cities complexity design information theory urban}, number = 2, pages = 107, timestamp = {2007-06-03T19:19:01.000+0200}, title = {The Information Architecture of Cities}, url = {http://applied.math.utsa.edu/~salingar/InfoCities.html}, volume = 30, year = 2004 }