City Research Online

Abstract

Boundaries of Nation States around the world and also of their constituent units and conglomerations are often found to be arbitrarily drawn or superimposed, without any reference to their systemic imperatives. This study starts with a hypothesis that such superimposition creates inefficient spatial systems and hinders growth potential of the system or systems concerned and also increases the probability of conflicts and chaos.

In this regard special attention has been given to the territorial region of ‘South Asia’ which provides glaring examples of such superimposition. This regional scenario has been looked from different perspectives, both analytically and holistically.

A study on different characteristics of spatial systems has been made and a methodology has been suggested to dis-aggregate the complexity of spatial systems and evaluate/measure their efficiency.

Spatial systems are ‘open hierarchical systems’ and call for a holistic approach. However, many of the constituent entities of spatial systems are found to be, within specified limits, quantifiable through a hard systems approach. Therefore, a two pronged approach, combining both hard and soft systems approaches has been adopted.

Systems thinking has been applied in understanding different facets of organisational aspects and resolving problems thereof with significant success. There have been some attempts to apply systems thinking in different disciplines of social sciences also. However, attempts to apply systems thinking in the politico- administrative arena, especially to understand and evaluate the structural and functional aspects of present day Nation States, their sub-systems and supra- systems, has not yet been very extensive.

In this study attempts have been made to develop tools and methodologies to apply systems thinking in understanding spatial systems and in their administration. In this regard the ‘Soft Systems Methodology -- SSM’, has been applied in conjunction with other systems approaches to develop a ‘hard-soft symbiotic process’ of inquiry to analyse and understand systemic incongruities in spatial systems and to identify appropriate interventions thereof.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Computer Science School of Science & Technology > School of Science & Technology Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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