1st Edition
Rebuilding Urban Complexity A Configurational Approach to Postindustrial Cities
This is a book about urban complexity – how it evolves and how it gets destroyed. It explores the structures of interdependency which underpin cities, where the many different ‘parts’ (people, streets, industry sectors) interact to form an evolving ‘whole’.
This book explores the evolution and destruction of complexity in one city – Greater Manchester – but also other post-industrial cities, including Sheffield and Newcastle, Detroit and New Haven. The focus is on the networked qualities of public urban space, and how street networks work as multiscale systems. The book also explores economic networks, and the evolving sets of interconnecting economic capabilities which help to shape urban economies. It demonstrates how cities evolve through processes of self-organisation – and conclude by considering how policy makers can best harness such processes as they rebuild urban complexity following the insensitive planning interventions of the 1960s and 1970s.
The book will appeal to anybody with an interest in cities, and how they work. It is interdisciplinary in scope, weaving in strands from architecture, economics, history, anthropology and ecology. It is written for both academics but also non-academics, including urban planners, architects and policy makers.
List of figures
List of boxes
Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART ONE
Chapter 1: Why focus on urban complexity?
Chapter 2: Theories of complexity
Chapter 3: Parts and wholes: the configuration of urban economies
Chapter 4: Parts and wholes: the configuration of urban space
Chapter 5: Bringing together configurational analysis of economies and space
PART TWO
Chapter 6: How local economies evolve and branch
Chapter 7: How spatial complexity evolves and supports branching economies
Chapter 8: Waterproofing – a case study
Chapter 9: The destruction of urban complexity
PART THREE
Chapter 10: Cities as systems of systems – where nature fits in
Chapter 11: Rebuilding urban complexity – how can policy makers intervene?
Index
Biography
Francesca Froy is a Lecturer on Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford and is a Fellow of Kellogg College. She has honorary positions at the Bartlett Schools of Planning and Architecture where she previously researched and taught urban morphology and local economic development. She is also an Associate working on the spatial dimensions of sustainable economies at the consultancy firm Space Syntax. Francesca was a senior policy analyst at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2005-15 where she coordinated international reviews of policies to support local economic development. Before that she evaluated urban and regional European policies based in Brussels. Her articles can be found in peer-reviewed academic journals including the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society; Local Economy; the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, the European Planning Journal; the Journal of Urban Design; and Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space.
“A beautifully illustrated digital archeology of what some call "the first Industrial city" - Manchester. Francesca Froy charts the evolution and integration, the complexity and morphology of a place made by people and the materials they consume, process and rely on. Relying on a wider range of sources than almost any other book of this kind, the result is an academic masterpiece.”
Danny Dorling, Professor, University of Oxford.
“This is a much needed publication. It takes on the mantle of Jane Jacobs, discussing urban complexity in a way that will be appeal to people who are interested in actual cities rather than cities in the abstract. It is written with a lightness of touch which is not easily achieved, and which will appeal to a wide readership.”
Sam Griffiths, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
"We are all captivated by complexity, recognising its pervasive presence in our world and striving to understand it. Many dream of mastering it or at least guiding it towards desired outcomes. Yet, complexity remains elusive, especially within urban environments. Francesca Froy presents a fresh and insightful perspective on deciphering the intricate fabric of cities and their local economies. Her configurational view explores how economies unfold and self-organise into specialised branches through the spatial topology of cities. With a captivating style, Froy unveils the hidden threads that shape urban life, offering readers a compelling journey into the heart of urban complexity."
Vinicius Netto, University of Porto, Portugal.
“This book moves beyond the rhetoric of 'resilient cities' to show how the economy of cities is geared to urban form and street networks at multiple scales. In a masterful exploration of urban complexity and self-organization, Froy shows how cities work to sustain livelihoods, how planning can damage them, and how post-industrial cities can be sustained.”
Kim Dovey, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design and Co-Director of the Informal Urbanism Research Hub, University of Melbourne.
"This book is exceptionally clear and accessible, with a biographic tone that engages the reader. By integrating system theory into a comprehensive urban theoretical framework, it makes complex concepts understandable and relevant for both practitioners and academics."
Patricia Canelas, Sustainable Urban Development programme, University of Oxford.
“This important book challenges our conceptions of top-down, deterministic urban spatial planning and economic policy making in cities. With a strong focus on the self-organising complexity and catalytic nature of cities, the author has woven a scholarly, powerful and unique tapestry of interlocking and interdisciplinary concepts. This is strongly grounded in a detailed and insightful case study of networks and urban configurations in Greater Manchester, supported by further analysis in Sheffield and Newcastle, Detroit and New Haven. Using a variety of innovative data, the ebb and flow, and evolution and destruction in cities over time is brought to life in a highly readable and engaging way. The book offers powerful discussions and visual representations of space and economy (and of complexity and networks), as well as valuable policy and practice recommendations, which academics, students, policymakers and practitioners will find immensely helpful in aiding a clearer understanding of how cities really ‘work’.”
Timothy J. Dixon, Emeritus Professor, University of Reading and Visiting Fellow, Kellogg College.
“In Rebuilding Urban Complexity, Francesca Froy offers a compelling exploration of how cities evolve, decline, and reinvent themselves. Blending insights from complexity science, economics, and urban planning, Froy is able to connect the dots between how cities are built and how their economies work. Using Greater Manchester as a primary case study, alongside other post-industrial cities, she uncovers the intricate networks and interdependencies that shape urban economies and spaces over time. Froy's analysis of historical branching processes and configuration of street networks provides crucial insights for understanding urban resilience and adaptation. Her interdisciplinary approach, combining quantitative network analysis with rich qualitative detail, offers a fresh and exciting framework for conceptualizing cities as complex evolving systems.
This book is essential reading for urban planners, policy makers, and scholars seeking to understand the dynamics of post-industrial cities. Froy's work sheds new light on what makes cities tick and offers valuable lessons for rebuilding vibrant, resilient urban economies and spaces.”
Elvira Uyarra, Professor of Innovation Studies and Director of Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR).
