for: Sixth International Artificial Life Conference Evolution of Places: Intentionality in the Built Environment

© 1998 page 1 MIT Press Within the evolution of places including metropolises, cities, towns and neighborhoods, human beings and human organizations are the actors that make deals resulting in architectural changes to the built environment. The patterns that evolve are intentional at two levels: at a simple level, the actors (city planners) in the system directly intend to create certain features; and at more complex levels, the interactions of many autonomous actors (developers, transportation officials, financiers, etc.) indirectly give rise to yet different patterns, notably metropolitan sprawl. This paper proposes an organizational mechanism intending to evolve the built environment into a highly correlated fitness landscape of human deal centers which reflect actual building densities and land values. The final section considers the implications of this mechanism relative to the human limitations of structuring the built environment.