Cognitive Modeling of Urban Complexity

New model potentials exist for coping with the complexities of today’s cities. These are related to the cognitive mediation role that modeling allows one to establish between the abstraction process (internal loop) and the external environment to which a model application belongs (external loop). The focus is turned to the two main aspects involved in that role, i.e. the modeling task and the technological interface. As far as the first is concerned, there are claims that model building in geography involves three main components: a syntactic component (how are the mechanisms underlying the functioning of the system accounted for?), a representational (semantic) component (what kind of urban descriptions are conveyed by the model?) and a purposive investigation project component (what is the modeling activity intended for?). As they increasingly rely on computing technology, models as cognitive mediators are not just simple, autonomous entities, but active complex objects. A model can therefore be understood as an ALC (Action, Learning, Communication) agent, capable of performing a certain course of Action, and permitting a certain Learning ability, which, because of its cognitive mediating role, Communicates with other kinds of agents (other models). This notion is then related to the various aspects of model-building in geography as originally introduced in the early seventies. These aspects are re-interpreted in light of the above characteristics. We conclude the paper with some remarks about the implications which may be derived as far as the harnessing of complexity in urban systems is concerned.