10 2018 Complex Adaptive Systems & Urban Morphogenesis Analyzing and designing urban fabric informed by CAS dynamics Sharon Wohl Complex Adaptive Systems & Urban Morphogenesis Analyzing and designing urban fabric informed by CAS dynamics Sharon Wohl Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department of Urbanism, Spatial Planning and Strategy TOC abe.tudelft.nl Design: Sirene Ontwerpers, Rotterdam Cover: Image modified from original art by Adam Vilimek ISBN 978-94-6366-046-4 ISSN 2212-3202 © 2018 Sharon Wohl All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author. Unless otherwise specified, all the photographs in this thesis were taken by the author. For the use of illustrations effort has been made to ask permission for the legal owners as far as possible. We apologize for those cases in which we did not succeed. These legal owners are kindly requested to contact the publisher. TOC Preamble For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in understanding the nature of urban spaces that have a convivial ‘alive’ quality to them. Ones that are vibrant, that are diverse, and that embody what Christopher Alexander calls ‘a Quality Without a Name’. Years ago, while working on my Master’s Thesis in Architecture, I began to try to understand the nature of how such places came to be. Inspired by readings in Quantum Physics, I began to believe that the nature of reality was based not upon the atomistic perspective that had fuelled the Newtonian worldview, but instead upon a process-driven ontology where the fundamental building blocks of reality – and of life - had to do with interactions rather than objects. I wanted to better understand how this perspective might inform thinking on architecture and urbanism conceived around process rather than form. That said, it was not until I came upon Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) perspectives that I realized CAS could provide the necessary conceptual tools to gain this understanding: tools framing what a process-driven perspective might entail. CAS research looked at what appeared to be stable forms, but described these forms as emergent assemblages of disparate, intertwining processes. If I could understand the fundamental nature of such processes - the kinds of factors enabling or hindering them, perhaps I could better understand how such processes might steer the built environment. Shortly after finishing my Master’s degree I came upon Steven Johnson’s book, ‘Emergence’. In it, he observes how streets in medieval cities came to be specialized to deliver a particular product: gold or fabrics, hats or shoes, for example. He argues that this clustering of similar products emerges as a result of complex interactions on the ground. Over time, these interactions sedimentize, or as John Urry would describe, become ‘moored’ (2003) such that a particular street, block, or district focuses upon a specific kind of urban offering, product, or event. Johnson points to how this kind of emergence occurs in many circumstances, from ant colonies to cities, but until recently we have not known how to unpack the dynamics whereby such organization occurs. However, in recent years a growing body of research – through the emerging field of Complex Adaptive Systems theory - has begun to unpack such systems. My initial enthusiasm for pursuing research in CAS was borne out of the hope that CAS perspectives might provide an alternative way to envision the creation of functional urban orders that arise through emergent, evolutionary processes, rather than top-down master plans. Coming from practice, I had seen top-down planning often fail to adequately navigate uncertainties. All too often, planning schemes either became out-of-date before the ink upon them had dried or (if executed as conceived), failed to materialize on the ground the urban qualities depicted on paper. This background in practice made me wish to understand CAS dynamics as they unfold within the specificity of urban form. I began this investigation into an alternative means of form-making more than a decade ago, initially through design competitions that served as early testing grounds for conceptualizing designs that conceived of form not as a static ‘product’, but instead as a means to enable a process. These explorations occurred prior to any knowledge of the broader spectrum of research into CAS and urban processes. Since then, I have gained a deep appreciation of how CAS can be used to understand different forms of complex unfolding - be they economic, social, communicative, etc. That said, the Ph.D. remains attuned to the specifics of urban design practice and is therefore premised upon the notion that the specifics of material urban form can be considered as a necessary component of an urban complex entity: one that provides the physical scaffold with which to support and balance a broad range of forces - economic, social, and political - within its midst. So, the question becomes, what kinds of urban morphological conditions can we, as practitioners, design that would have the capacity to evolve – to ‘discover’ viable configurations to support CAS processes - but this through emergent rather than command and control mechanisms. The following manuscript aims to work towards a deeper understanding of how this might occur. TOC TOC Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the support of my supervisor, Dr. Stephen Read, and the Chair of Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Professor Vincent Nadin, for their encouragement over the years as I have completed this work. Both have been exceedingly patient with me - even as the work has gone on hold at various times due to unforeseen life events. At all times, they have encouraged me and provided me with both practical and emotional support, particularly with regards to providing me with sufficient time to complete the work and enabling me to travel to meet with academic peers in Europe in order to present and refine my thinking. Many people have helped in the fleshing out of ideas contained in this dissertation. The articles in this Ph.D. all began as conference papers and have greatly benefitted from the vetting that occurred over the course of time, in particular through discussions with members of the AESOP satellite group for Complexity and Self Organization. I wish in particular to thank Ward Rauws for his ongoing efforts to direct this group, and for coordinating such amazing venues for conferences that included both formal and informal gatherings. I also wish to thank the editors of the various journals who corresponded with me about the submitted articles. Never having submitted to academic journals, I was pleasantly reassured by many of them as I went through many versions of editing in response to the thoughtful reviewer comments. It was a privilege to be the beneficiary of the insight of these anonymous reviewers. The articles published as part of this Ph.D. have greatly matured in depth and scope as a result of their suggestions and input. Deep appreciation also goes to my Chair at Iowa State University, Deborah Hauptmann, in particular for providing me with an opportunity to teach a seminar course on my research topic. It has been a privilege to share this research with students at Iowa State, and through their feedback, develop my own ideas further. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to this talented group of young designers, who have helped push ideas about complexity forward, particularly into domains where digital interfaces begin to engage and mediate urban spaces. A number of the papers in this Dissertation would not have been possible without the discussions and input of these incredibly talented and engaged students. My Graduate Assistant, Sean Wittmeyer, merits special mention for his enthusiasm and for his work developing code for my website. Finally, I wish to thank my husband, Stan Duncan, for so many things: having the patience to listen to me as I read aloud each and every final version of these papers prior to their submission; bringing me coffee and keeping the home fires burning while I worked; nodding supportively as I hashed out ideas using obscure terminology for which he had no reference point; and always keeping an unwavering faith in my ability to achieve this degree - even when I doubted it myself. I am ever so fortunate to have you in my life. TOC 8 Complex Adaptive Systems & Urban Morphogenesis TOC Contents List of Tables 14 List of Figures 15 Summary 17 Samenvatting 19 PART 1 Introduction 1 Research Outline 23 1.1 Research Background 23 1.2 Situating the Research 25 1.3 Research Problem: 28 1.4 Research Tasks: 30 1.5 Methodological Steps: chapter by chapter outline 32 1.6 Research Limits 44 1.7 Dissertation Overview: 46 1.8 Notes on Reading the Dissertation: 48 PART 2 Context: Overview of CAS Principles and Urban Precedents 2 Research in Urbanism and Planning drawing from Complex Adaptive Systems theory: Divergent definitions, concepts, methodologies, and trends. 53 2.1 Part 1: Why Complexity? 54 2.2 Part 2: Defining CAS: 57 2.3 Part 3: Drawing from CAS phenomena 61 2.4 Conclusion: 69 9 Contents TOC 3 Situating Complexity in Contemporary Landscape Practice 71 3.1 Part 1: Complexity Theory - General Principles 72 3.2 Part 2 - Defining CAS 73 3.3 Part 3: Landscape Urbanism History and Principles 75 3.4 Part 4: Landscape Urbanism Case Studies - Overview and comparisons 78 3.4.1 Parc de la Villette (competition entry) – OMA 79 3.4.2 Parc de la Villette, (Tschumi) 80 3.4.3 Schouwbergplein, West 8 81 3.4.4 High Line, New York (Field Operations) 82 3.4.5 Almere, Oosterwold: MVRDV 84 3.4.6 OMS Stage: 5469796 Architecture 85 3.5 Discussion and Conclusion: 86 4 Tactical Urbanism as a means of testing relational processes in space: A Complex Systems Perspective.