The general urban model: Retrospect and prospect

Alan Wilson

Papers in Regional Science, 2010, vol. 89, issue 1, 27-42

Abstract: Abstract The general urban model is viewed in brief retrospectively, mainly emphasizing the transition for the monocentric ‘classical’ elements of such a model to the multicentric. The emphasis of the paper, however, is on future prospects. It is argued that it could be developed as the basis of a model‐based ‘big picture’ of urban development through five layers of disaggregation – from the global to the local. There are many opportunities for submodel development but the main future challenge is the modelling of urban and regional evolution. Progress in modelling urban and regional systems as complex nonlinear systems with particular reference to path dependence and phase transitions is reviewed. The idea of urban and regional ‘DNA’ is introduced which leads to a ‘genetic medicine’ view of aspects of planning. Resumen Revisamos brevemente el modelo urbano general en retrospectiva, enfatizando principalmente la transición de los elementos “clásicos” monocéntricos de dicho modelo a los multicéntricos. El énfasis del artículo está, sin embargo, en sus perspectivas futuras. En el artículo se argumenta que podría ser desarrollado como la base de una “visión global” basada en un modelo del desarrollo urbano mediante cinco niveles de desagregación – del global al local. Hay amplias oportunidades para el desarrollo de submodelos, pero el principal desafío futuro es la modelización de la evolución urbana y regional. Se revisa el avance en la modelización de sistemas urbanos y regionales como sistemas no lineales complejos haciendo referencia en particular a la dependencia de la trayectoria y transiciones de fases. Se introduce la idea de un “ADN” urbano y regional, que conlleva una visión de “medicina genética” de los aspectos de la planificación.

Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1435-5957.2010.00282.x

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:presci:v:89:y:2010:i:1:p:27-42

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