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11Introduction
Introducing Urban Networks Network Urbanism
Jeroen van Schaick and Ina Klaasen
Gabriel Dupuy: an oeuvre
It is not easy to boil down the work o 30 years in a single book. Gabriel Dupuys ascination with the
relation between the technical proessions and urbanism started early, exemplifed by his doctorate
thesis and frst bookUrbanisme et Technique, Chronique dun Mariage de Raison (Urbanism and Technique:
Chronicle o A Marriage o Convenience) rom 1978. During the 1980s he became interested not only
in the role o techniques (e.g. calculating size and structure o conduits, modelling tra c, simulating
urbanization), but also in the role o technology in urbanism, i.e. the role o physical networks in urban
development. Using the notion o networks, the work o Gabriel Dupuy has broadened over time in the
sense that he has treated a network not just as a physical object, but also as a concept. Moreover, he
has shown that network thinking is a necessary element o urban planning in the 21st century.
The work o Gabriel Dupuy has gained considerable depth over the years because o three things
mainly. Firstly, his work radiates a thorough understanding o historical developments, as illustrated by
his integral treatment o the coming into being o networks, the development o underlying concepts
through cross-sectoral and cross-border knowledge transers and the changes in physical structure o
networks. Secondly, his in-depth dealing with case studies, sometimes holistic, sometimes to illustrate
specifc concepts and arguments, has enriched his theoretical groundwork. Thirdly, his detailed study
o both the automobile system and ICTs links his theoretical work to the policy agendas o today and
tomorrow.
Until now though, much o Dupuys publications were only available in French and Spanish. This book
aims to introduce his network thinking, in its depth and its width, to an English-reading audience.
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Urban Networks Network Urbanism12
1990 was an important year or Gabriel Dupuy. It was the year that he ounded the magazine Flux, a
journal that is especially concerned with the ways in which networks are designed, regulated and
operated, as well as the relationship between networks and the territories they serve. As such, Fluxis
one o the ew academic publications in French which specializes in the feld o town planning. (http://
latts.cnrs.r, accessed July 2008). Moreover, 1990 was the year that he wrote LUrbanisme des Rseaux
(Urbanism o Networks; Dupuy, 1991a). In that book, Gabriel Dupuy translated his work on technical
networks into a study on network thinking in the feld o urbanism, reacting to what he perceived as a
crisis in the feld o urban planning.
The crisis that Dupuy signalled at the start o the 1990s has not been overcome. The conict between
urban planning based on an areolar conception o space (i.e. based on zones, boundaries and edges,
see p.65) and urban planning viewed rom a network-based conception o space is still very much alive.
Networks, both as object and as concept, are still not seen as part and parcel o mainstream urbanism.
However, since 1990, some things have changed. It seems that a shi t in spatial planning is taking placetowards relational thinking, i.e. towards network thinking.
A shift in spatial planning
In 2007 the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrantdeveloped a list o 50 subjects-every-Dutchman-should-
know-about-science-and-technology. One o those 50 subjects published in 2008 in book edition
was Techniek en Stadsontwikkeling (Technology and urban development). Van Klee (2008) explains
that nowadays technology is still oten invisible in urban designs and plans, despite the real, although
intricate relation between the development o technical networks and the development o the city.
But this is not the only reason to re-examine networks in light o urban design and planning.
In addition to this view o networks as physical things that re-organize time and space a viewpoint
commented upon by Dupuy (2005: 120-122) Albrechts and Mandelbaum (2004: v-vii) show two
other important strands o network thinking in relation to spatial planning. On the one hand, network
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13Introduction
thinking can be seen as a new paradigm as ar ranging as shown by the term the network society
that conronts spatial planning with a challenge or undamental change in light o a new context. On
the other hand, network thinking has direct implications or the way planning processes are organized
requiring governance styles that include a range o stakeholders organizing themselves in networks.
However, Albrechts and Mandelbaum also show that physically-oriented thinking, paradigmatic
thinking and social network-oriented thinking are sometimes as ar removed rom each other rom
each other as zonal thinking and network thinking are in spatial planning (see Chapter 1).
Moreover, authors on network thinking seem to be split up in, on the one hand, a group that sees a
new kind o society developing based on new networked structures and, on the other hand, a group
that thinks o networks as undamental structures in any society rather than as something recent. The
ormer sees networks as an organization orm with characteristics such as oot-looseness and virtuality
that is replacing old organization orms. The latter emphasizes the durability o physical structures.
There are also those in the middle that see networks as undamental to human society and at thesame time see dramatic partially technology-driven changes in the intensity, scale, multiplicity
and complexity o networked organization orms. This standpoint implies that there are strong links
between the three dierent types o network thinking. However, literature that bridges the gaps
between physically-oriented thinking, paradigmatic thinking and social-network-oriented thinking is
scarce.
Where then can we place the work by Gabriel Dupuy? Three issues are important to understand his
position. Firstly, Dupuys background in planning is grounded in engineering. Secondly, France has
a long-standing tradition o spatial planning or regional and urban development () carried out by
the central government or by local governments (Ministre des Aaires trangres, 2006: 50). Thirdly,
France is known or its tradition o prospective research and scenario development (Drewe, 2008). From
this perspective, Dupuy clearly takes the stand that network thinking is not limited to either seeing
cities as physical networks or to seeing urban planning as interplay o numerous stakeholders. ForDupuy the development o networks in relation to territorial development hangs very much together
with parallel changes in organizational structure and stakeholder involvement.
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Urban Networks Network Urbanism14
The structure of the book
Urban Networks Network Urbanism consists o fve Parts. A number o the core Chapters o Dupuys
bookLUrbanisme des Rseaux(1991) have been selected or Part 1. In these Chapters the history and
theory o network thinking in the context o urban planning are addressed supplying the theoretical
basis or this book. In the frst Chapter the ocus is on the history o network urbanism: a re- examination
o urban planning classics highlighting the way their authors dealt with network thinking. Also attention
is paid to a number o people outside the world o urban planning who developed some o the early
urban technical networks. While explaining what these networks meant or urban development, in
this Chapter a frst step is taken in developing a network concept or urban planning based on the
concepts topology, kinetics and adaptivity. In the second Chapter a theory o network urbanism
is built that provides grounds and arguments or urban planning in the network age. The concept
o network operators is developed and the three levels on which they operate are defned: physicalnetworks, unctional networks and household networks. The third Chapter introduces the concept
network territory. Dupuy argues here that technical networks have introduced into our societies a
new, predominant orm o territoriality that urban planning, as a rule, ailed to acknowledge, without
claiming that this is the only remaining orm o territoriality (p. 66). The fnal Chapter o Part 1 elaborates
on the problems connected with the use o network maps. Using examples rom the early days o
computational visualization tools, it explains that there is a undamental conict between network
maps and their usability or urban planners.
The Chapters chosen or Part 2 adaptations o articles mostly predating 1991 illustrate the lines o
thought leading to the Urbanism o Networks idea. In this part o the book it is shown that network
urbanism needs to be seen in the contex t o territorial development. It extends the concept o network
territory rom Chapter 3 on the basis o our case studies: the encapsulation o Andrsy an outer
suburb o Paris in regional networks, the development o the French road system in light o Americantra c models, the collapse o networks in the Buenos Aires region and the way this is dealt with, and
the cross-border development o the Eurovision radio and television broadcasting network.
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15Introduction
The Chapters in Part 3 and 4 written between 1995 and 2007, ater the publication o LUrbanisme
des Rseaux have been selected to give more depth to the implications o network thinking in urban
and regional territories by ocusing, respectively, on the automobile and on ICTs. Ater a Chapter
that develops the metaphor o the universal adapter or the automobile system, Part 3 elaborates
on the concept o automobile dependence; how it works, how it varies between national, regional
and cultural contexts and how to deal with it. The Chapters in Part 4 address the rise o ICTs. Chapter
13 and 14 explore the conditions o an ICT-miracle, respectively as it developed in Iceland and in
contrast as it did not in Saint Pierre et Miquelon, a number o small French islands an overseas
department close to the Canadian coast. Whereas in Part 3 automobile dependence as a societal
problem is explained as being inherent to the automobile system itsel, in Part 4 the digital divide as
a major societal problem is attributed to the rise o ICTs. The Chapters on ICTs show how the digital
divide is related to other types o divides, in particular ocusing on the digital divide as a geographical
problem as well as a problem o scale.
In the two Chapters o Part 5 the ocus is again on the broader question o urban planning, revisiting
the original ideas about an Urbanism o Networks as set out in Part 1. The conditions under which
network urbanism has to operate in the 21st century are summarized in Chapter 18. A number o
challenges or urban planning are pointed out: changes o scale, continuing technological progress,
the development o two-track cities and the reality o deregulation. Chapter 19 subsequently sketches
the contours and possible ingredients o network urbanism or the uture by elaborating on a number
o key concepts.
Concluding remarks
All Chapters, except or Chapter 19, have been previously published, albeit some in an earlier version
and/or in French and Spanish. So the book has not been written as a monograph and should be read
as a collection o articles. Still, cross-reerences between Chapters may help the reader to see that the
Chapters are strongly interrelated. In view o this interrelation it was decided to put the reerences
together at the end o the book instead o at the end o each Chapter.
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Urban Networks Network Urbanism16
Throughout the book the reader will fnd a number o text boxes. These white texts on dark backgrounds
showcase ideas citations rom authors who have inuenced Gabriel Dupuys way o thinking. The
attentive reader will see that they reer to some o the key concepts used throughout Urban Networks
Network Urbanism. In addition, numbered boxes inside the Chapters unction as particular illustrations
and are reerenced in the text.
As said, the goal o this book is to open up a mainly French oeuvre to an English-reading audience:
twelve o the nineteen Chapters are frst-time English translations. So Urban Networks Network
Urbanism should also be o interest to readers who came across publications by Dupuy in English
beore and would like to get a better understanding o his views on urban planning. In addition, the
French avour o the case studies - and the mix o Anglo-Saxon, Hispanic and French reerences - might
help in discovering the richness o the French discourse on geography and spatial planning.
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