“Cities can be viewed as information architecture systems. Here, ‘architecture’ is used in the sense of computer architecture — it refers not to the design of buildings, but to how the components of a complex system interact. Information exchange includes the movement of people and goods, personal contact and interactions, telecommunications, as well as visual input from the environment. Information networks provide a basis for understanding living cities and for diagnosing urban problems. This paper argues that a city works less like an electronic computer, and more like the human brain. As a functionally complex system, it heuristically defines its own functionality by changing connections so as to optimize how components interact. An effective city will be one with a system architecture that can respond to changing conditions. This analysis shifts the focus of understanding cities from their physical structure to the flow of information.” (L. Andrew Coward and Nikos A. Salingaros ~ Journal of Information Science, Volume 30 No. 2, 2004) | courtesy of @wantmag