Decision Support Systems and Methodologies
in
Engineering, Planning & Management

Systems Analysis
Optimization Models, Mathematical Programming, Network Optimization
Multicriteria/Multiobjective Analysis
Applications in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Urban and Land Use Planning, Transportation Planning,
Infrastructure Management. Sustainable Cities, Smart Mobility

A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something… a system must consist of three kinds of things: elements, interconnec- tions, and a function or purpose.…
A system is a set of things - people, cells, molecules, or whatever - interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. The system may be buffeted, constricted, triggered, or driven by outside forces. But the system’s response to these forces is characteristic of itself, and that response is seldom simple in the real world.… we all dealt with complex systems. We are complex system - our own bodies are magnificent examples of integrated, interconnected, self-maintaining complexity. Every person we encounter, every organization, every animal, garden, tree, and forest is a complex system. We have built up intuitively, without analysis, often without words, a practical understanding of how these systems work, and how to work with them.…
The system called a university is made up of buildings, students, professors, administrators, libraries, books, computers - and I could go on and say what all those things are made up of. Elements do not have to be physical things. Intangibles are also elements of a system. In a university, school pride and academic prowess are two intangibles that can be very important elements of the system.…
To ask whether elements, interconnections, or purposes are most impor- tant in a system is to ask an unsystemic question. All are essential. All inter- act. All have their roles. But the least obvious part of the system, its function or purpose, is often the most crucial determinant of the system’s behav- ior. Interconnections are also critically important. Changing relationships usually changes system behavior. The elements, the parts of systems we are most likely to notice, are often (not always) least important in defining the unique characteristics of the system…
Donella Meadows, MIT and Dartmouth College, USA

Design is nothing if not decision making. Henry Petroski