URP 110-INTRODUCTION TO

PLANNING AND THE BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

LECTURE 2

INTERROGATING THE
ROLE OF THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT
PROFESSIONALS VIA THE
SYSTEMS THINKING
THEORY
 SYSTEM
1. A system is any group of interacting,
interrelated, or interdependent parts
that form a complex and unified whole
that has a specific purpose.

2. A system is an organized whole made

up of components that interact in a
way distinct from their interaction with
other entities and which endures over
some period of time”

• The key thing to remember is that all the

parts are interrelated and interdependent
in some way.
• Without such interdependencies, we have
a collection of parts, not a system.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
SYSTEMS

1. Systems have a purpose.

2. All parts must be present for a system
to carry out its purpose optimally
3. The order in which the parts are
arranged affects the performance of a
system
4. The system attempts to maintain
stability through feedback
 SYSTEM THINKING
1. Systems thinking is a vantage point from
which you see a whole, a web of
relationships, rather than focusing only on
the detail of any particular piece.

2. Events are seen in the larger context of a

pattern that is unfolding over time.

3. Systems thinking is a perspective of seeing

and understanding systems as wholes rather
than as collections of parts.

4. A whole is a web of interconnections that

creates emerging patterns.
PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEM
THINKING
 INTERCONNECTEDNESS
• Systems thinking requires a shift in mindset, away from linear to circular.
• The fundamental principle of this shift is that everything is interconnected.
• Essentially, everything is reliant upon something else for survival.
Humans need food, air, and water to sustain our bodies, and trees need carbon
dioxide and sunlight to thrive. Everything needs something else, often a complex
array of other things, to survive.
• So, when we say ‘everything is interconnected’ from a systems thinking
perspective, we are defining a fundamental principle of life.
• From this, we can shift the way we see the world, from a linear, structured
“mechanical worldview’ to a dynamic, chaotic, interconnected array of
relationships and feedback loops.
• A systems thinker uses this mindset to untangle and work within the complexity
of life on Earth.
 SYNTHESIS
• Synthesis refers to the combining of two or more things to create
something new.
• Dissection of complexity into manageable components.
• Systems are dynamic and often complex; thus, we need a more holistic
approach to understanding phenomena.
• Synthesis is about understanding the whole and the parts at the same
time, along with the relationships and the connections that make up the
dynamics of the whole.
• Essentially, synthesis is the ability to see interconnectedness.
 EMERGENCE
• From a systems perspective, larger things emerge from smaller parts:
emergence is the natural outcome of things coming together.
In the most abstract sense, emergence describes the universal concept of
how life emerges from individual biological elements in diverse and
unique ways.
• Emergence is the outcome of the synergies of the parts;
• It is about non-linearity and self-organization and describe the outcome
of things interacting together.
• Conceptually, people often find emergence a bit tricky to get their head
around, but when you get it, your brain starts to form emergent
outcomes from the disparate and often odd things you encounter in the
world.
 FEEDBACK LOOPS
• Since everything is interconnected, there are constant feedback loops
and flows between elements of a system.
• We can observe, understand, and intervene in feedback loops once we
understand their type and dynamics.
• Systems theory became popular as a communication theory because it is
believed that communication helps in defining and sustaining a system.
• Without communication a system will fall out of homeostasis because
the feedback loop or channel is not functioning properly.
• Communication is the key to keeping an interpersonal system operating
at its best.
 CAUSALITY
• Understanding feedback loops is about gaining perspective of causality:
how one thing results in another thing in a dynamic and constantly
evolving system.
• Cause and effect are pretty common concepts in many professions and
life in general .
• Causality as a concept in systems thinking is really about being able to
decipher the way things influence each other in a system.
• Understanding causality leads to a deeper perspective on agency,
feedback loops, connections and relationships, which are all
fundamental parts of systems mapping.
 SYSTEMS MAPPING
• Systems mapping is one of the key tools of the systems thinker.
• There are many ways to map, from analog cluster mapping to complex
digital feedback analysis.
• The fundamental principles and practices of systems mapping are
universal.
• Identify and map the elements of ‘things’ within a system to understand
how they interconnect, relate, and act in a complex system, and
• From here, unique insights and discoveries can be used to develop
interventions, shifts, or policy decisions that will dramatically change
the system most effectively.
LOCATING BEPs…

We are dealing with issues

that are too complex for one
all-powerful approach.

Map ‘‘the intermesh between

flesh and stone, humans and
non-humans, fixtures and
flows, emotions and
practices’’.

The hybrid actor-network and

track a ‘‘socio-technical’’
reality or ‘‘full world’’
(Bingham and Thrift, 2000).
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS
• Critical analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of complex
environmental information
• Understanding the importance of maintaining and improving natural
cycles and biodiversity to achieve sustainability in terms of society-
nature interaction;
• Selection and use of appropriate methods and approaches in solving
problems;
• Predicting the results and their short-term and long-term consequences;
• Critical analysis and perception of information, as well as the
accumulation of new knowledge, skills and competencies in the field of
the environment based on modern scientific, social, economic, cultural,
and technical developments and theories.
• Provide information on best practices applied at the international or
national level;
• Help and support others to understand the complex nature of problems
related to the environment and the development of society;
• Identify uncertainties and risks relating to human health, environmental
safety, business reputation, and individual social groups in society.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
• Improving human health and protecting it from
environmental hazards.
• Developing liaison between the community and the local
authority, and between the local and higher levels of
administration.
• Acting independently to provide advice on environmental
health matters; designing and developing action plans for
environmental health.
• Initiating and implementing health/hygiene, sanitation,
and environmental programmes to promote
understanding of environmental health principles.
• Enforcing environmental legislation.
• Monitoring and evaluating environmental health
activities, programmes and projects.
• Food safety. hygiene, water sanitation and health
• Disease outbreak investigation
• Control of environmental pollution
• Enforcement of legislation
 GEOMATICS
1. The determination of the size and shape of the earth and the
measurements of all data needed to define the size, position,
shape, and contour of any part of the earth and monitor any
change therein.
2. The acquisition and use of spatial information from close range,
aerial and satellite imagery, and the automation of these processes.
3. The determination of the position of the boundaries of public or
private land, including national and international boundaries, and
the registration of those lands with the appropriate authorities.
4. The design, establishment, and administration of geographic
information systems (GIS) and data collection, storage, analysis,
management, display, and dissemination.
5. The analysis, interpretation, and integration of spatial objects and
phenomena in GIS,
6. Visualization and communication of such data in maps, models,
and mobile digital devices.
7. The planning, development, and redevelopment of property,
whether urban or rural and whether land or buildings.
8. The assessment of value and property management, whether urban
or rural and whether land or buildings.
9. The planning, measurement, and management of construction
works, including the estimation of costs.
REAL ESTATE
• Management of property for the maximum
use of scarce resources.
• Generates resources and the wealth of the
economy.
• Real estate affects land use patterns and
vice versa.
• Clear knowledge and understanding of the
needs and wants of owners of real estate
and assist owners in fulfilling their
objectives.
• Assist in refurbish and redeveloping
(sale/lease out) in the most desirable way.
 URBAN/TOWN PLANNER
• Develop strategic documents that work through legislation and
complex laws regarding development plans and land use
• Conduct field investigations to analyze factors affecting land use
• Provide planning advice to the community, developers, architects
and building designers, engineers, and other related professionals
on their projects
• Layout and design public spaces in towns and cities
• Develop plans to advocate the best outcomes for people, their
communities, and the environment
• Meet regularly with other professionals to identify community
goals or issues and formulate strategies to address them
• Facilitates and manages orderly and sustainable spatial
development of human settlements in Botswana.
• Advises stakeholders on Town & Regional planning matters and
determines optimal use of land.
• Preparation of local, regional & national spatial development
plans
 CONCLUSION

Reality is ‘‘nothing other than A City/Town/Settlement should be Hence the call for a transformational
patterned networks of seen as an institutionalised agenda that is incremental and
heterogeneous materials ’’ (Law, practice-systematized network’ radical in seeking to comprehend the
1992) underlying crucial hybrid networks
for the success of our
Profession/Career