QUALITATIVE PROPERTIES OF URBAN SYSTEMS IN SCIENCE AND DESIGN PRACTICE

Abstract

In the current conditions of social development and in the conditions of global changes, which have covered all spheres of life and activity of people, the conditions and factors of the formation of spatial structures and urban development are changing. The role of qualitative components (factors) and qualitative methods is increasing. The practice of dominance of analytical methods, with particular attention to mathematical modeling and quantitative methods, has led to the excessive formalization of research and the justification of decisions. Ignoring the qualitative characteristics and methods of research impoverished the methodological tools of urban studies. It is still considered that their use is inappropriate at the stage of scientific research (science begins where measurements begin, quantitative relationships and regularities are established), and is only expedient when performing the creative part of the project. The author, participating in architectural and urban planning research, considers it advisable not to contrast the quantitative and qualitative, but to reveal more deeply the tools of qualitative methods in research and in substantiation of design decisions for architects.The study of qualitative properties makes it possible to obtain new information about the phenomenon under study, deepen cognition, help to better understand the mechanisms of its functioning. At the same time, these methods have disadvantages, in particular, their results are local and cannot be extended to the whole system, and they contain a great deal of subjectivity.