Heuristic approaches to urban livability

It is argued that although complexity theory might be useful for simulating various urban processes, it is probably incapable of throwing much light on such a mysterious concept as urban livability. Realistically therefore, city planners trying to boost urban livability can only adopt approximate an...

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Main Author:	Wyatt, Ray
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Environmental Management Society, Malaysia 2009
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/1/Artikel_4_RayWyatt.pdf

id	ukm-2256
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-22562016-12-14T06:31:07Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/ Heuristic approaches to urban livability Wyatt, Ray It is argued that although complexity theory might be useful for simulating various urban processes, it is probably incapable of throwing much light on such a mysterious concept as urban livability. Realistically therefore, city planners trying to boost urban livability can only adopt approximate and heuristic strategies which they think might increase livability and which will probably do no harm. Examples of four such strategies are discussed here. Firstly, improving urban connectivity seems important, and it is argued that Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) achieves this the most effectively. Secondly, clear communication, between the planners and the planned for, seems essential as well, and various innovative methods for achieving this, both now and in the future, are discussed. Thirdly, methods for optimizing urban layouts are likely to help, even if they do not act as prescriptive blueprints but serve rather as discussion generators for assessing the most desirable directions in which the city should be shaped, and two examples of suitable optimization methods are outlined. Finally, it is argued that no city planner can increase urban livability unless they have a viable way of predicting what the city’s residents are likely to prefer, and so a generic, preference-prediction method is presented here. The conclusion is reached that in Malaysia, it is the locals who will best understand what urban livability actually constitutes, and so foreigners should demonstrate only technical implementation procedures rather than how to go about achieving such a goal Environmental Management Society, Malaysia 2009 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/1/Artikel_4_RayWyatt.pdf Wyatt, Ray (2009) Heuristic approaches to urban livability. Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management, 10 (1). pp. 43-65. ISSN 1511-7855 http://www.ems-malaysia.org/mjem/index.html
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	It is argued that although complexity theory might be useful for simulating various urban processes, it is probably incapable of throwing much light on such a mysterious concept as urban livability. Realistically therefore, city planners trying to boost urban livability can only adopt approximate and heuristic strategies which they think might increase livability and which will probably do no harm. Examples of four such strategies are discussed here. Firstly, improving urban connectivity seems important, and it is argued that Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) achieves this the most effectively. Secondly, clear communication, between the planners and the planned for, seems essential as well, and various innovative methods for achieving this, both now and in the future, are discussed. Thirdly, methods for optimizing urban layouts are likely to help, even if they do not act as prescriptive blueprints but serve rather as discussion generators for assessing the most desirable directions in which the city should be shaped, and two examples of suitable optimization methods are outlined. Finally, it is argued that no city planner can increase urban livability unless they have a viable way of predicting what the city’s residents are likely to prefer, and so a generic, preference-prediction method is presented here. The conclusion is reached that in Malaysia, it is the locals who will best understand what urban livability actually constitutes, and so foreigners should demonstrate only technical implementation procedures rather than how to go about achieving such a goal
format	Article
author	Wyatt, Ray
spellingShingle	Wyatt, Ray Heuristic approaches to urban livability
author_facet	Wyatt, Ray
author_sort	Wyatt, Ray
title	Heuristic approaches to urban livability
title_short	Heuristic approaches to urban livability
title_full	Heuristic approaches to urban livability
title_fullStr	Heuristic approaches to urban livability
title_full_unstemmed	Heuristic approaches to urban livability
title_sort	heuristic approaches to urban livability
publisher	Environmental Management Society, Malaysia
publishDate	2009
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/2256/1/Artikel_4_RayWyatt.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:35:37Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:35:37Z
_version_	1777405251100344320

Heuristic approaches to urban livability

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