Fuzzy cognitive mapping to support multi-agent decisions in development of urban policymaking. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pluchinotta, Irene; Esposito, Dario; Camarda, Domenico
• Is Part Of: Sustainable cities and society. Volume 46(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Fuzzy Cognitive Maps -- Decision support systems -- Urban policy -- Environmental complex systems -- Participatory approach -- Policy Making; Sustainable urban development -- Periodicals; Sustainable buildings -- Periodicals; Urban ecology (Sociology) -- Periodicals; 307.76
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2018.12.030
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2210-6707

Abstract

Highlights: Dealing with urban policies involves the coordination of multiple stakeholders. Understanding stakeholders' problem formulations has become a crucial research subject. This paper explores possible environmental knowledge management approaches. This work investigates the potentials of the FCM approach for knowledge sharing in urban planning. This work carried out a scenario building activity for the new master plan of Taranto (Italy). Abstract: The awareness about environmental complexity involves real-time knowledge and demands urban planning initiatives. Knowledge is multiform, multi-agent and mirrors environmental complexity. Problems characterizing urban sustainability particularly claim non-expert knowledge, being informal, puzzling, uncertain, incomplete, hard to be handled, formalized, modelled. This study utilizes Fuzzy cognitive maps to explore such complexity and support multiagent decisions. It concerns the scenario-building process of the new plan of Taranto (Italy), a paradigmatic example of decaying industrial area, heavily characterized by social fragmentation and environment degradation. This approach aims at structuring environmental problems, modelling future strategies and contributing to build a multi-agent decision support system for complex urban planning contexts.