  Cities are changing constantly. All urban systems face different conditions
from day to day. Even when averaged regularities can be found, urban systems
will be more efficient if they can adapt to changes at the same temporal scales
at which these occur. Still, the functionality of urban systems must be robust
to changes, either caused by adaptation or by other factors. Technology can
assist humans in designing and regulating this adaptation and robustness. To
achieve this, we propose a description of cities as cybernetic systems. We
identify three main components: information, algorithms, and agents, which we
illustrate with current and future examples. The implications of cybernetic
cities are manifold, with direct impacts on mobility, sustainability,
resilience, governance, and society. Still, the potential of a cybernetic
perspective on cities will not depend so much on technology as on how we use
it.

Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems;Computers and Society;Physics and Society