This book presents a
theory as well as methods to understand and to purposively influence complex
systems. It suggests a theory of complex systems as nested systems, i. e.
systems that enclose other systems and that are simultaneously enclosed by even
other systems. According to the theory presented, each enclosing system emerges
through time from the generative activities of the systems they enclose.

Systems are nested
and often emerge unplanned, and every system of high dynamics is enclosed by a
system of slower dynamics. An understanding of systems with faster dynamics,
which are always guided by systems of slower dynamics, opens up not only new
ways to understanding systems, but also to effectively influence them.

The aim and subject
of this book is to lay out these thoughts and explain their relevance to the
purposive development of complex systems, which are exemplified in case studies from an urban system. The
interested reader, who is not required to be familiar with system-theoretical
concepts or with theories of emergence, will be guided through the development
of a theory of emergent nested systems. The reader will also learn about new
ways to influence the course of events - even though the course of events is,
in principle, unpredictable, due to the ever-new emergence of real novelty.