The Implications of the Nonlinear Paradigm for Integrated Environmental Design and Planning

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the potential implications of the "new sciences" such as chaos theory, self-organization theory, and complexity science to reconcile various different schools of philosophical thought in the environment development debate. Design, through the means of transdisciplinary analysis, here is conceived as a creative process that aids in the emergence of appropriate metaphors and models for the development of sophisticated environmental planning and policies. The epistemological and philosophical foundations of two broad paradigms of thought, the material and ecological paradigms, are examined to develop a more comprehensive approach to sustainable development. Surprisingly, this takes us into the terrain of Newtonian mechanics and principles of thermodynamics. The article then presents an alternative view of sustainability based on the emerging new science paradigm. Finally, the article examines some possible implicationsfor integrated environmental design and planning.