Managing Social Entropy in the Urban Development of a City and the Role of Socio-Engineering

Abstract

This chapter examines the fourth kind of intangible capital, which is the capability to transform a heterogeneous aggregate of people, first into a group and then into a team. This is useful both on a macro- and micro-scale. This is shown through the case of people involved in an urban transformation with its endogenous and exogenous complexities. Following the definition of sustainability, people can be divided into three different kinds that use language differently to be understood. Communication happens only on each personal boundary line, which is dynamic, and acts on two levels: the technical and the relational. The presence of a connector, mediator, translator, and negotiator, who has both human and technical training, is essential.

Citation

Bettiol, C. (2005), "Managing Social Entropy in the Urban Development of a City and the Role of Socio-Engineering", Beyerlein, M.M., Beyerlein, S.T. and Kennedy, F.A. (Ed.) Collaborative Capital: Creating Intangible Value (Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies of Work Teams, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 285-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1572-0977(05)11010-3