Complexity Theories of Cities: Their Media and Their Messages

Dear Colleagues,

The last decades have witnessed the emergence of complexity theory, also termed complexity science. Rooted in thermodynamics and statistical physics, the founding complexity theories initially referred to material systems such as lasers and fluid dynamics. Following attempts to apply these theories to “life”, the notion of adaptation was introduced, bringing complex adaptive systems (CAS) to the fore.

Associated with the emergence of complexity theories, complexity theories of cities (CTC)—a domain of research that applies the various complexity theories to the study of cities, their dynamics, planning, and design—have also emerged. First, as a metaphor to convey notions such as “open system” and “self-organization”, and soon after as a leading research domain in the study of cities. Following mainstream complexity theory, the first generation of CTC was developed by means of analogy to material complex systems, while the second-generation CTC practitioners enthusiastically embraced the notion of cities as CAS.

The Medium and the Message
The title of this Special Issue rephrases Marshall McLuhan’s famous phrase, “the medium is the message.” While McLuhan referred to communication media such as radio, television, and—by extension—the web, this Special Issue uses the term ‘medium’ to refer to the subject matter of the various specialized domains of CTC, such as urban planning, design, transportation, law, governance, and aesthetics. Our premise is that each domain brings distinct challenges and unique manifestations of complexity.

Call for Contributions
We invite contributions to shed light on the variety of urban complexities and the messages they convey. To provide a comprehensive overview of the field, we welcome the following types of submissions:

• Theoretical Papers: Original work that advances the conceptual frameworks of CTC or explores the philosophical implications of the “medium/message” analogy.
• Empirical Studies: Data-driven research applying complexity metrics or modeling to specific urban phenomena.
• Methodological Innovations: Papers that introduce or critique the technical “media” of urban analysis—such as AI, Digital Twins, or simulation modeling—and how these tools influence the “messages” we derive about city dynamics.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Entropy.

Prof. Dr. Juval Portugali
Dr. Egbert Stolk
Guest Editors

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