INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF A CITY: AN ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

The internal structure of cities has become a modern frontier in urban studies. The advance has been rapid, spontaneous, and not yet organized. The development of theory in this field is urgent, for otherwise we run the risk of losing our way in an ocean of accumulated empirical findings. The action-oriented use by cities of small area data is steadily increasing, because of the immediate need to satisfy the demand for better physical and transportation planning, control of environmental pollution, and coordination of activities within metropolitan areas. The development continues, like many things in engineering, without waiting for corresponding theoretical bases. Computers contribute a great deal to the wide utilization of small area data. Almost every municipality with access to a computer wants it for handling a comprehensive data bank. In Britain, Sweden, the United States, and some other countries this effort is now becoming institutionalized and a standard format for urban "computer files" is emerging. In the United States this is the development of the DIME Geocoding System which will undoubtedly greatly increase the applications for small area data starting from the 1970 census. A computer-backed inquiry into the subject of the internal structure of a city does not necessarily mean progress. One wants to find the cure for the mess of urban growth and urban sprawl. The computer may reproduce the mess and provide a multitude of numerical parameters for describing how bad it is, but it will not preseflt us with the desired remedy. This goal will be approached only if one succeeds in breaking down the mass of a city into simple manageable elements. It is the work of the structure delineation.