scholarly journals Social Interaction and the City: The Effect of Space on the Reduction of Entropy

Complexity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinicius M. Netto ◽  
Joao Meirelles ◽  
Fabiano L. Ribeiro

How can individual acts amount to coherent systems of interaction? In this paper, we attempt to answer this key question by suggesting that there is a place for cities in the way we coordinate seemingly chaotic decisions. We look into the elementary processes of social interaction exploring a particular concept, “social entropy,” or how social systems deal with uncertainty and unpredictability in the transition from individual actions to systems of interaction. Examining possibilities that (i) actions rely on informational differences latent in their environments and that (ii) the city itself is an information environment to actions, we propose that (iii) space becomes a form of creating differences in the probabilities of interaction. We investigate this process through simulations of distinct material scenarios, to find that space is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the reduction of entropy. Finally, we suggest that states and fluctuations of entropy are a vital part of social reproduction and reveal a deep connection between social, informational, and spatial systems.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinicius M. Netto ◽  
João Vitor Meirelles ◽  
Fabiano L. Ribeiro

How can individual acts amount to coherent systems of interaction? In this paper, we attempt to answer this key question by suggesting that there is a place for cities in the way we coordinate seemingly chaotic decisions. We look into the elementary processes of social interaction exploring a particular concept, “social entropy,” or how social systems deal with uncertainty and unpredictability in the transition from individual actions to systems of interaction. Examining possibilities that (i) actions rely on informational differences latent in their environments and that (ii) the city itself is an information environment to actions, we propose that (iii) space becomes a form of creating differences in the probabilities of interaction. We investigate this process through simulations of distinct material scenarios, to find that space is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the reduction of entropy. Finally, we suggest that states and fluctuations of entropy are a vital part of social reproduction and reveal a deep connection between social, informational, and spatial systems.


2022 ◽  
pp. 147035722110526
Author(s):  
Sara Merlino ◽  
Lorenza Mondada ◽  
Ola Söderström

This article discusses how an aspect of urban environments – sound and noise – is experienced by people walking in the city; it particularly focuses on atypical populations such as people diagnosed with psychosis, who are reported to be particularly sensitive to noisy environments. Through an analysis of video-recordings of naturalistic activities in an urban context and of video-elicitations based on these recordings, the study details the way participants orient to sound and noise in naturalistic settings, and how sound and noise are reported and reexperienced during interviews. By bringing together urban context, psychosis and social interaction, this study shows that, thanks to video recordings and conversation analysis, it is possible to analyse in detail the multimodal organization of action (talk, gesture, gaze, walking bodies) and of the sensory experience(s) of aural factors, as well as the way this organization is affected by the ecology of the situation.


1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Coleman

AbstractModern society has undergone a fundamental change to a society built around purposively established organizations. Social theory in this context can be a guide to social construction. Foundations of Social Theory is dedicated to this aim. Being oriented towards the design of social institutions it has to choose a voluntaristic, purposive theory of action and must make the behavior of social systems explainable in terms of the combination of individual actions. It has to deal with the emergence and maintenance of norms and rights, the concepts of authority, trust, law and legitimacy, the viability of organizations and the efficiency of social systems. But more important than the specific points is the vision of a new role for social theory in an increasingly constructed social environment. This vision is the motivation behind Foundations of Social Theory.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Alicia Lawrie

<p>Whangarei City has a dying Commercial Centre. This has resulted from population shifts that have occurred over time. Significant issues have driven movement of people toward much larger cities (seeking better economic, cultural and social outcomes) and more spacious urban fringes (seeking improved environmental outcomes). The Whangarei CBD incorporates both the dying Commercial Centre and a thriving Town Basin which is the centre for Arts and Recreation within the city. The two areas are a juxtaposition. The investigation reveals reasons why two such contrasting areas exist and defines a design solution that seeks to resolve this and leverages the success of the Town Basin to revive the Commercial Centre. The aim of this thesis is to investigate ways that architecture can be used to invigorate Whangarei’s dying Commercial Centre by creating a place of activity, engagement and informal learning and by re-establishing the important connection Whangarei has with its river as well as other positives within the city.   Thesis objectives:  • Identify the reasons for the decline of the Commercial Centre and the success of the Town Basin and how a connection can be established between the two.  • Establish a beating heart within the dying Commercial Centre and provide a life source in the form of people movement into the centre from all parts of the city.  • Provide dynamic spaces which encourage informal learning, social interaction, playfulness and creativity that will engage the people of Whangarei including youth and children.  • Use the natural environment as a means of engaging people of all ages by weaving together water, a restored ecology and architecture.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-188
Author(s):  
Bárbara Catalano ◽  

This paper addresses the sector of VFR tourism: visiting friends and relatives (VFR). The hypoth‑ esis is that tourism based on social ties facilitates integration in terms of social interaction and social iden‑ tification in the destination, in this case the city of Buenos Aires. The concept itself of VFR tourism is dealt with together with a description and attempted characterisation of the exact movement of this type of tour‑ ism over the last few years as a result of migratory movements with emphasis on social ties and practices. The emphasis is on the degree of social integration and identification occurring in this type of tourism. The methodology used is qualitative, based on semi‑structured interviews of key agents and is complemented with statistics designed to give fuller access to the comprehension of the context.


The article shows a significant role of social networks in the system of forms of social interaction in the vital city space. The task to identify the most popular platforms for promotion SMO and SMM – brands in the tourist area of a hero city Volgograd was chosen as the key tool. The study identified the effectiveness of priority methods of given marketing practices such as the community formation of brand of territory, work with blogosphere, reputation management, personal branding and extraordinary promotion. The conditions for the infinite social interaction are created in these forms in open ICT environment for the residents and the city guests who have common interests in urban space. The research has accomplished the following tasks such as identification of the most popular open platforms for SMO and SMM of tourist area brand promotion of a hero city Volgograd, detection of related communities, identification of a trust level to them, establishment of their purposes and the range of issues of their interest, places and attractions, related to the brand of territory; uncovering of factors and mechanisms which detect mood changing of the target audience and creation of methodological templates which allow to develop, implement and optimize SMO and SMM campaigns


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 197-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
SATOSHI OYAMA ◽  
KAORU HIRAMATSU ◽  
TORU ISHIDA

A digital city is a social information infrastructure for urban life (including shopping, business, transportation, education, welfare and so on). We started a project to develop a digital city for Kyoto based on the newest technologies including cooperative information agents. This paper presents an architecture for digital cities and shows the roles of agent interfaces in it. We propose two types of cooperative information agents as follows: (a) the front-end agents determine and refine users' uncertain goals, (b) the back-end agents extract and organize relevant information from the Internet, (c) Both types of agents opportunistically cooperate through a blackboard. We also show the research guidelines towards social agents in digital cities; the agent will foster social interaction among people who are living in/visiting the city.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-169
Author(s):  
Peter Christensen

No Mediterranean city witnessed as dramatic a demographic shift as Salonica following the expulsion of the Jews from Iberia in 1492. This article explores the specific concept of placemaking in the context of this transformation, examining how the industries, devotional spaces, mythology, and material traditions of Iberian Jews tactically engaged with extant forms of Ottoman multicultural governance and social systems. Drawing upon a broad array of visual and textual information, this article argues that under the evolving mechanics of the millet and dhimmi systems, the nimbler aspects of material culture–color, fabric, dress, spoliation–proved to be the most effective in articulating and developing diasporic Sephardic identity within both the city and the empire. This article further analyzes the ways in which this identity was capable of, if not inclined to, the delimiting of regional, class, and gender groups, ultimately contouring and challenging notions of a monolithic minority culture within the Ottoman Empire from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth century.


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