Emergent Urbanism: An Introduction

If anyone is interested in Emergent Urbanism, then they should check out Mathieu Helie's website www.emergenturbanism.com. The website contains useful links, interesting articles and forums on the subject. For me, the website is the only website focused on Emergent Urbanism worth looking at(if you find any other - please let me know!). Mathieu has managed to create a real hub of emergence; a launching pad toward exploring the subject area.


   For a concise introduction on the topic, I can strongly recommend Helie's paper Conceptualizing the Principles of Emergent Urbanism (which can be downloaded from the website for free). Although the paper isn't oozing with references and vital information - it really does give you a starting point in researching emergence and urbanism. Helie believes that:

"Mass-production of the environment left people as nothing more than consumers of cities where they used to be their creators." (Halie, 2009, p.80) 

   This essay explores the possibilities emergence could create within the cities by discussing emergence, complexity theory, fractal geometry, spontaneous order within the city, and morphology of the city through history. The paper discusses Jane Jacobs and Christopher Alexander - two key figures and theorists in the field. All in all, Halie's paper is not a well of knowledge, but with that in mind, it is well worth a read and will leave you wanting more!