| Titre | An implicit large territorial-technical system: settlement systems | |
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| Auteur | Denise Pumain | |
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Revue | Flux |
| Numéro | no 21, juillet-septembre 1995 | |
| Page | 11-20 | |
| Résumé anglais |
In a strict definition, a settlement system could not be considered as a technical system, as it has neither official operator nor designer. However, settlement systems in national territories all over the world share strong common properties in their spatial and hierarchical organization; they also obey common laws of transformation, as shown in empirical world-wide comparisons. These systems seem to be the only stable solution found by societies to inhabit, control and develop territories. A historical review of their conceptualizations in social science will emphasize the technical efficiency of settlement systems in covering territories, in networking places, and in managing the evolution of territories, through competition between places for innovation and adaptation. We will also analyse the possible effects of the more explicit organizational strategies which are emerging, and see under which conditions they might replace traditional implicit strategies, without losing the sustainability which has characterized until now the self-organized, complex settlement systems. Source : Éditeur (via Persée) |
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| Article en ligne | http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/flux_1154-2721_1995_num_11_21_1035 |
