Urban Engineering: Concepts and Challenges

3.1 The systemic approach
The ‘urban engineer’ operates in a broad and systemic manner, given that his field of
activity is multifaceted and complex, involving many different social, economic, political,
environmental and technological factors. This generally means that a large number of
interests and stakeholders are involved.
Systemic (or systems) thinking is a framework based on the belief that the component parts
or properties of an organism or living system can best be understood in the context of
relationships with each other and with other systems rather than in isolation. These
properties are the product of a variety of interactions and relationships between the separate
parts and it follows that the only way to fully understand why a problem occurs and
persists is to understand the part in relation to the whole (Ackoff, 1974).
This approach is of crucial importance if we wish to understand our cities and find ways of
tackling the problems incurred in and by these cities. The many problems, for example,
encountered in cities linked to water and energy supply, transport, etc cannot be seen in
isolation. Rather they need to be understood systemically within the context of an
overarching, broader urban context.
Applying this approach is a complex task given that urban engineering touches on a wide
range of activities, including:
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water resources engineering, the collection and treatment of sewage, solid waste
management, collection and disposal, energy distribution, drainage, urban transport,
telecommunications, etc;
Urban Engineering: Concepts and Challenges
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different areas of activity requiring coordination, including initial planning and detailed
design, project execution, ongoing operation, maintenance and management;
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a variety of stakeholders: public authorities at the several levels (local, municipal,
regional, metropolitan, state and national), plus para-statal sectors, private sector
involvement, NGOs and community representatives.