The dynamics of an independent city

The tools of modern systems theory have successfully helped land men on the moon, design the controls of the disk drive in your computer, and allow businesses to operate more effectively and efficiently. These same tools have not received serious attention in addressing the planning and operating needs of cities, even though there are numerous potential applications. An Independent City is influenced most strongly by actions and developments within the city, and to a lesser extent by external factors. This paper: (1) Develops and applies a dynamic model for an Independent City, (2) Describes how this model may be used with the practical tools of system theory to suggest planning and operating procedures for the city, and (3) Applies the approach as a practical example.