ABSTRACT
The operational tool, ProtoScope, provides a systemic representation of how the city could potentially function; it has evolved from the experiences with several cultures throughout the world. This idealized, systemic view of the city/region became what is called a ProtoCity, or an idealized place-based prototype city of the future. ProtoScope provides the basis for triggering a city/region to move to the next stage of the Development Ladder by increasing the capacity to create the context for change. The Development Ladder is based on assessing a location’s four resource flows—information, currency, energy, and materials—and subjecting these to both the biophysical and human trends of ProtoMetrics and ProtoPartners. Indicators such as health are chosen due to their high coincidence in both categories (i.e., health of environment and health of people are defining characteristics of Juarez and El Paso).
