Synergetics: A Short Reminder

Synergetics (“science of cooperation”) is an interdisciplinary field of research that aims at unearthing general principles underlying selforganization in open complex systems. This chapter is a short reminder of the theory of Synergetics, its basic concepts and language, and the early attempts to apply them to cities. We firstly introduce the four basic concepts of Synergetics: Order parameters (OPs), the Slaving principle, Circular causality and Control parameter. Then, we present the four paradigms of Synergetics and their role in forming the synergetic cities view. Finally, the 1st and 2nd Foundations of Synergetics are presented including their implication to the synergetic cities view that forms the core of this book.