Abstract-Complex system theory has made people recognize and understand urban phenomena from a new perspective. In particular, The research method of the complex system has provided a powerful tool to explore problems of urban system. In this paper, basic theories of research on complexity science and complex system are described, the necessity of dynamic modeling and simulation methods as well as general steps are analyzed for the complex system. Based on this, the complexity of urban system is discussed and analyzed. Besides, the means by which dynamic simulation methods of complex system are applied in studying urban system and their significances are discussed. The result shows that it is necessary to depict, analyze and know about problems on urban complexity and explore deeper rules hidden in dynamical urban development with the theoretical framework of complexity science, so as to better interpret, design and plan cities.Index Terms-Complexity science, CA, MAS, urban system.
I. INTRODUCTIONWith the rapid development of cities and constant integration of disciplines, urban planning has increasingly become a discipline not purely focusing on designing physical forms, but has also begun to pay great attention to other non-physical factors (e.g. human and society) and more fundamental rules hidden in dynamic development of cities. Studied by urban planners, urban system is becoming more and more complex in both forms and nature. Thus, how to understand, analyze and depict such a complex system has become an urgent problem to be solved by planners. Traditional research methods based on reductive thinking encounter great challenges in interpreting the formation of urban structure, urban spatial evolution and laws of human activities in cities, etc, which fail to reveal deeper causes and rules of dynamic urban development.By the end of 1980s, the founding of Santa Fe Institute directly facilitated and led to the emergence of complexity science. The complexity science had achieved rapid development within less than 20 years and has become the focus of attention in the scientific field at present. On one hand, the theories of complexity science greatly change people"s ideas of urban system. On the other hand, research methods of complex system particularly make powerful means available to explore urban system. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: The basic theories of research on complexity science and complex system are described in Manuscript received September 6, 2013; revised October 17, 2013. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 51178236).Zhou Wensheng is with School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China (e-mail: zwsbj@163.com).Li Qiang is with 295847 Department of PLA, Beijing, 100120, China (e-mail: liquider@sina.com).Section II. Section III addresses the complexity of urban system. Section III discusses the modeling and simulation of complex systems and modeling of urban system. The paper is concluded in Section V.
II. MAIN THEORIES OF C...