Places are dynamic and evolving

Abstract

The main point of Issue C4 is that places are best studied as dynamic and evolving. As Cummins et al [22] state, “[I]t may be just as important for contextual studies to begin to understand not just the life course of individuals, but also the social and economic trajectories of the places which they inhabit” (p. 1832). Or, as Gatrell [31] states, “Complex systems have a history; their past is ’co-responsible’ for their present behavior” ([31], p. 2662). However, while the basic point of Issue C4 is clear enough, the methodological challenge is figuring out how exactly to model these ideas; particularly given the somewhat vague and historical manner in which the Complexities of Place literature uses these terms, in comparison to the more specific and often times precisely mathematical (albeit computational) meaning.