The City as an Organism

A direct comparison of an astrocyte ( star cell) in nerve tissue with a satellite image of Paris clearly shows that the self-similarity of natural phenomena is evident even at distant scales.

A look at nature shows that polar structures are not uncommon.

On the contrary, on closer observation we realise,

that this is a structural principle of nature,

which all living organisms from unicellular

to more complex multicellular organisms are subjected.

The main map shows an aerial view of Nördlingen in Bavaria

We also find depictions in the religious sphere that refer to a centre point, such as the  London Psalter world map  from the 13th century, which conveys the Christian world view of the time. Jerusalem, the centre of Christianity, is located in the middle of the world disc.

Another example is the depiction of the wheel of life on the black pagoda in Konark. The wheel is the central symbol of Hinduism for the course of life as such. It embodies the cosmic cycles that characterise all living things.

The  mandala  (Sanskrit: = circle) has become a general term in religious studies and psychology, especially as a symbol of wholeness and as an aspect of centring and security.

The main map shows an aerial view of Jerusalem.

The human reference systems for capturing the spatial environment are also polar in nature. Be it Leonardo da Vinci's depiction of human proportions, which makes it clear that humans are polarised in relation to their sexuality,

or the systems for measuring the earth and the starry sky.

Even the entire universe is related to a centre point, not least because of the Big Bang.

The city hub is almost always a prominent building with a high degree of recognition that is located in or near the historical-geographical centre, e.g:

• London: Bank of England • Paris: Cathedral Notre Dame • Berlin: Television tower at Alexanderplatz

to name a few of the best known.

in the aerial photo: Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on the Île de la cité

The city centre has long been used to measure distances on maps,

just as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is used for the whole of France

and in Berlin the television tower at Alexanderplatz. Polar systems are not used in city maps. Orthogonal grid systems have been used there since the beginning of urban cartography. Based on what is known about the shape of cities, this seems like an attempt to 'square the circle'.

Arbitrary coordinate grids cannot take grown structures into account. A fundamental problem in the design of city maps is the lack of analogy to the concentric shape of the city, as printing techniques prescribe certain formats and linear-orthogonal coordinate systems arbitrarily divide up the urban area.

Four polar systems are combined here:

Compass rose

Clock face

Colour circle

Spider web

The Urban Information System is an orientation system for managing object information in city map series. It is used for the cartographic segmentation of the urban area and the precise assignment of objects to coordinates.

Concentric circles, each 1000 m apart, are placed over the city centre until the entire city area is covered. These are divided into 60 equal parts, analogous to the clock face. This results in a distance/direction formula. All information refers to the point where the settlement impulse was triggered. The curvature of the segments of the circle makes it immediately clear where the viewer is in relation to the centre of the city.

Example: Wittenbergplatz has the coordinates 5/40, i.e. it is located 5 kilometres to the west-southwest of the city hub.

The arrangement of the map sheets is based on the spiral principle. The first sheet shows the Mitte district. All other sheets follow in a spiral: (Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Tiergarten, Wedding, etc.).

A colour coding system provides additional clarity, with each map sheet being assigned its own colour. The closer to the centre, the darker the colour, and North = blue (cold); East = yellow-green (hope); South = orange (sun); West = red-violet (dusk).

At Expo 2000 in Hanover, the Urban Information System was shown as a video contribution in Hall 4 (Connected Intelligence - Ways of Knowledge)

The development of the UIS at the end of the 20th century signalled a paradigm shift away from a sober, pragmatic and economic approach towards a comprehensive view of the world and the connections between the microcosm and the macrocosm. This study contributed to research into the self-similarity of phenomena and processes in the universe and was protected by patent.

Modern interactive cartographic applications on smartphones and desktops have made printed maps almost superfluous.