SOFT-SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY AS LEARNING AND MANAGEMENT TOOL
Assuming that urban systems are a subset of human activity systems, decision making encompasses political and social issues as well as the planning and engineering issues. Political and social entities have been neglected in the past, though, due to engineers' and planners' reliance on operations research, systems engineering, and the power of quantitative methods to "solve" urban planning-related problems. These "hard systems" methodologies (HSM) have not been uniformly successful. This paper explains "soft systems" methodologies (SSM), demonstrating their useful application in problems concerning the rational intervention in human activity systems. SSM is an inquiring system used for tackling ill-structured, messy problem situations in engineering and planning. This effective, easy-to-use methodology is demonstrated in an example of a transportation planning situation. The two systems--HSM and SSM--complement and supplement each other.
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07339488
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Corporate Authors:
American Society of Civil Engineers
345 East 47th Street
New York, NY United States 10017-2398 -
Authors:
- Khisty, C J
- Publication Date: 1995-9
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: p. 91-107
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Serial:
- Journal of Urban Planning and Development
- Volume: 121
- Issue Number: 3
- Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
- ISSN: 0733-9488
- EISSN: 1943-5444
- Serial URL: http://ascelibrary.org/journal/jupddm
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: City planning; Decision making; Management; Methodology; Political factors; Problem solving; Social factors; Transportation engineering
- Old TRIS Terms: Management techniques
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00711551
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Sep 19 1995 12:00AM