[Fis] Information Science and the City

[Pedro C. Marijuan]

Dear FISers,

Among the many interesting themes where the information science 
perspective may provide useful orientations, cities are one of the most 
singular. A recent work by Michel Batty on the New Science of Cities 
(2013, MIT) makes a lot of connections with our oft discussed info 
topics. A Communication Theory of Urban Growth was developed by Richard 
Meier (1962); a fluxes perspective was already attempted by Patrick 
Geddes (1949). In essence I have found that the idea of information 
flows and material flows as catching and intertwining each other, with 
their highly different regimes, heterogeneity and energy contents, 
appears as an important focus in order to better understand the 
globalized city. Scaling is one of the essential concepts...

I am not aware that scaling has been applied to the informational 
analysis itself (obviously it is the cornerstone of self-similarity). 
What I mean is that a micro-level of communication analysis may be quite 
different from the meso-level, and the from macro-level. Thinking in the 
human case (biologically it could make sense too) the micro level is 
dominated by syntaxis, by a Shannonian type of analysis on messages 
emitted from a sourced to a receiver. The meso level contains meaning, 
value (fitness), purpose, and in general it implies the communication 
associated to the behavioral episodes and living rhythms of individuals. 
While in the macro level, many individuals' actions, works, products, 
etc. are aggregated into fluxes or flows, basically of two kinds those 
devoted to the material (self-production) and those carrying the info 
stuff devoted to communication; then it invites analysis of network 
science, operations research, economic efficiency, etc., and of course 
the direct flow perspective as Bejan and Peder (2011) have attempted in 
one of the most interesting theories on self-constructing flow systems. 
Depending on the information perspective in which we observe human 
communication, we will need one or another lens to better make sense of 
what is happening.

My impression is that a more mature info science could be quite helpful 
in this new field of urban development science --most people nowadays 
are living in cities. Top down planning will fail if it is does not 
match with the bottom up processes, both in communication and 
self-production aspects. Keeping an adequate social flow of information, 
a well-mixed regime of communication, is the essence of democracy. The 
contemporary "epidemics of loneliness" for instance may be due among 
other social and demographic causes to failures in bureaucratic high 
level planning...

best ---Pedro

PS. After the nasty computer crash months ago, we should try to enliven 
the list--shouldn't we?

-- 
-------------------------------------------------
Pedro C. Marijuán
Grupo de Bioinformación / Bioinformation Group
Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias de la Salud
Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Aragón (CIBA)
Avda. San Juan Bosco, 13, planta X
50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Tfno. +34 976 71 3526 (& 6818)
pcmarijuan.iacs at aragon.es
http://sites.google.com/site/pedrocmarijuan/
-------------------------------------------------