Urban Galapagos: Transition to Sustainability in Complex Adaptive Systems (Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands)

This book addresses the future of urbanisation on the Galapagos Islands from a systems, governance and design perspective with the competing parameters of liveability, economic and ecological, using the Galapagos as a laboratory for the theoretical and postulative understanding of evolving settlement and habitation. The Galapagos islands are one of the world's most examined and reported examples of a series of naturally evolving ecosystems. The biodiversity of these island ecosystems are the focus of tourism and the image across the world yet human settlement are part of the local ecology. While human intervention is limited, the islands are a distinctive context in which to consider the impact of human habitation as a part of our ecosystems. In this book, authors take the framework of complex adaptive systems (CAS) in which to model systems that grow and evolve, the relations between these various sectors change; systems that get more complex as they evolve. Tested and applied discretely in the two realms of natural and urban, for the first time this text will bring the two together in understanding options for the future of urban settlements on the Galapagos Islands and, by extension, consider how the approach can be used globally in other contexts. · Takes complex adaptive systems from theory to practice · Delivers insights in resilient cities applicable globally · Establishes coupled natural urban systems as a tool for research and design Front Matter ....Pages i-x Complexity and Consequence in Coupled Natural Urban Systems (Thomas Kvan, Justyna Karakiewicz)....Pages 1-6 Front Matter ....Pages 7-7 The Galapagos Urban Context (Jaime Eduardo López Andrade, Diego Quiroga Ferri)....Pages 9-22 Understanding Coupled Urban-Natural Dynamics as the Key to Sustainability: The Example of the Galapagos (Michael Batty, Luís M. A. Bettencourt, Michael Kirley)....Pages 23-41 Scales and Transformative Change: Transitions in the Galapagos (Fjalar J. de Haan, Diego Quiroga Ferri, Stephen J. Walsh, Luıs M. A. Bettencourt)....Pages 43-58 Front Matter ....Pages 59-59 Demographics of Change: Modeling the Transition of Fishers to Tourism in the Galapagos Islands (Stephen J. Walsh, Kim Engie, Philip H. Page, Brian G. Frizzelle)....Pages 61-83 Socioecological Systems and the Management of the Natural Resources in the Galapagos (Diego Quiroga)....Pages 85-93 Front Matter ....Pages 95-95 A Model-Based Approach to Study the Tourism Sustainability in an Island Environment: The Case of Galapagos Islands (Paola A. Espin, Carlos F. Mena, Francesco Pizzitutti)....Pages 97-113 Toward Urban Self-Sufficiency in the Galapagos Islands (Justyna Karakiewicz)....Pages 115-136 Avoiding the Color Gray: Parametrizing CAS to Incorporate Reactive Scripting (Mark Burry, Camilo Cruz, Geoff Kimm)....Pages 137-154 Critical Paths to Sustainability: The Research Challenge from Island Urban Systems (Luís M. A. Bettencourt)....Pages 155-160 Back Matter ....Pages 161-163 This book addresses the future of urbanisation on the Galapagos Islands from a systems, governance and design perspective with the competing parameters of liveability, economic and ecological, using the Galapagos as a laboratory for the theoretical and postulative understanding of evolving settlement and habitation. The Galapagos islands are one of the world's most examined and reported examples of a series of naturally evolving ecosystems. The biodiversity of these island ecosystems are the focus of tourism and the image across the world yet human settlement are part of the local ecology. While human intervention is limited, the islands are a distinctive context in which to consider the impact of human habitation as a part of our ecosystems. In this book, authors take the framework of complex adaptive systems (CAS) in which to model systems that grow and evolve, the relations between these various sectors change; systems that get more complex as they evolve. Tested and applied discretely in the two realms of natural and urban, for the first time this text will bring the two together in understanding options for the future of urban settlements on the Galapagos Islands and, by extension, consider how the approach can be used globally in other contexts. ʺ Takes complex adaptive systems from theory to practice ʺ Delivers insights in resilient cities applicable globally ʺ Establishes coupled natural urban systems as a tool for research and design