Citation:

Campbell, Dan, H. Walker, S. Balogh, L. Erban, R. Boumans, AND T. Gleason. Change and transition in urban systems: The story of Chicago told with Energy Systems Language models. The International Society for Ecological Modelling Global Conference 2017, Jeju, Jeju, SOUTH KOREA, September 17 - 21, 2017.

Impact/Purpose:

Perhaps the most difficult question facing society in a future with lower availability of energy and materials is, “How can our cities and the vast array of benefits that they provide be sustained?” This research illuminates this question by examining the factors that have controlled the development of and change in the City of Chicago from the 1830s to the Great Recession of 2008. To accomplish this work we have created a series of models using Energy Systems Language that shows the reasons for change in the city over time. The results are reported as a chronological series of models and analysis of individual phases in the development of Chicago. There is an old adage that to know where we are going we must understand where we have been; thus this research presents a quantitative narrative history of Chicago, which provides the background for further research on the factors controlling urban systems, in general, and the city of Chicago, in particular.

Description:

Cities are human phenomena born of the need for economic, social and spiritual interactions among people. Early cities relied on solar energy for their support and as a result growth was often constrained by the local availability of energy and materials. Modern cities can exist only because the technological development of mankind has made it possible to concentrate the available energy, material and information resources of the Earth to support the desired human interactions and activities allowed by high densities of people. Cities are complex non equilibrium thermodynamic systems that depend on and process available energy, materials and information to grow, maintain their structure and carry-out their functions. They are subject to the laws of thermodynamics and the principles of Energy Systems Theory (EST) that govern their behavior. Therefore, Energy Systems Language (ESL) Models are an ideal way to better understand change and transitions in urban structure and function over time. In this talk, the origin and development of Chicago is traced from its beginning as a fur trading post prior to 1830 through the Great Recession of 2008, using a series of ESL models to identify and examine the salient internal processes and larger system dynamics that have determined changes in the nature and functioning of this city over time. The roles of geography, resources, transportation and finance in the city’s development are elucidated. We conclude by examining ways in which knowledge of Chicago’s past transitions may help chart a path toward a more sustainable and healthy future for this city.

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