Urban System

Abstract

There are different attributes which are instrumental in shaping the characteristics of a city. Sustainable urban development is not possible without understanding the relationship among these attributes. And it is not possible to assess and quantify the interdependence of these attributes using a unidimensional approach. Hence, this chapter attempts to develop an understanding about the need of analyzing a city using principles of system sciences. However, there are a few issues with this approach which may escalate complexity in characterizing a city. Therefore, it further addresses the possibilities of uncertainty and randomness due to this approach. And it also explained about the possible ways to contain randomness and uncertainty in studying cities. It is believed that this chapter would succeed in developing a strong understanding about the working of cities, and the need of system science principles in investigating them.