The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/
Thesis (S.M. in Architecture Studies)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72862 |
| _version_ | 1811069341984096256 |
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| author | Wood, Alexander Hilton |
| author2 | Caroline A. Jones. |
| author_facet | Caroline A. Jones. Wood, Alexander Hilton |
| author_sort | Wood, Alexander Hilton |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (S.M. in Architecture Studies)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:09:35Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/72862 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:09:35Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/728622019-04-09T17:01:46Z The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ Wood, Alexander Hilton Caroline A. Jones. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Architecture. Thesis (S.M. in Architecture Studies)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-81). The social policy agenda of the Great Society was shaped by the recognition that if broad social improvement was to be achieved in urban America, social planning and state intervention based on systemically acquired expertise about the city would have to be developed. As a case study in the development of such expertise, in this thesis I explore the work of the Urban Systems Laboratory (USL), established in 1968 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with funding from the Ford Foundation. Using computationally intensive methods, behavioral models and the latest techniques of the information sciences, research at the USL emphasized the role of rational, analytical, social scientific expertise in managing social conflict. In particular, I explore the work of Jay W. Forrester, a member of the USL whose research on the city was published in 1969 as Urban Dynamics. Using an IBM Systems/360 Model 67, Forrester built one of the first large-scale, interactive, computational models of a city specifically to explore the consequences of the social policies of the period and more generally the possibility of the social engineering of complex social systems in a postindustrial society. This project of the production of expertise at the USL struggled to secure legitimacy in the early 1970s as the attempt to treat the problems of urban America as phenomena to be handled by a new class of experts was overwhelmed by the sheer scale of urban turmoil. by Alexander Hilton Wood. S.M.in Architecture Studies 2012-09-13T18:57:28Z 2012-09-13T18:57:28Z 2012 2012 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72862 808366686 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 81 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Architecture. Wood, Alexander Hilton The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ |
| title | The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ |
| title_full | The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ |
| title_fullStr | The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ |
| title_full_unstemmed | The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ |
| title_short | The engineers and the urban system, 1968-1974/ |
| title_sort | engineers and the urban system 1968 1974 |
| topic | Architecture. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72862 |
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