A SIRN View on Design Thinking—An Urban Design Perspective

In this paper we bring together two notions: SIRN (synergetic interrepresentation network) that was originally developed as a complexity theory approach to cognition, cognitive mapping, and urban dynamics; and DT (design thinking) which is a field of research that studies the general process of design as it is implemented in domains such as engineering, architecture, urban design, crafts, and art. In the paper we suggest how a SIRN view can contribute to DT, and specifically to urban design—dealing with large-scale collective artifacts. We conclude by presenting a research agenda that illustrates and exemplifies SIRN's potential to participate in the discourse on some central DT issues.