Information Requirements for Urban Systems: A View into the Possible Future?

The successful management of urban systems is becoming increasingly a matter of successful information about the urban area and its environment. Using information as a basis for developing a structure for, and outlining the flows in, an urban area, this paper develops a dual hierarchy of information requirements and management activities. Each level of the hierarchy is discussed in terms of the emergent problems and requirements that are likely to confront management scientists and urban administrators in the future. As the information requirements of urban areas become more complex and as the components of the urban system become more highly interrelated, developments in information technology can be expected to have a direct impact on the activities of urban area administrators. This development is illustrated here through the presentation of a selected number of possible impacts of information technology developments upon the information and management hierarchies of urban systems.