Field Discovery
Research and ideas from the practice of Adaptive Urbanism
Field Discovery is where we think out loud. Through essays, white papers, commissioned studies, and publications, we explore the questions at the core of our work: how buildings adapt, how cities learn, and how new value is created under conditions of uncertainty. Field Discovery is where we publish the research that informs our practice. Our field is undergoing a generational sea change. Sharing good questions, leading-edge insights, and strong opinions (lightly held) is the best chance we have for the seismic change to create positive outcomes.
Latest from Field Discovery
The Institutional Imperative of Adaptive Urbanism
Simon Giles and Matthew Claudel
In our last essay we established the cognitive imperative: cities must learn to see clearly and act before decline becomes irreversible. Here, we define the institutional imperative: why our institutions of urban governance struggle to match the pace of change – and what should replace them.
MARCH 31 2026 | ADAPTIVE URBANISM
Markets and/as information systems
Mora Orensanz and Matthew Claudel
In 1971, a British management consultant arrived in revolutionary Chile with an audacious proposition: replace the market's information system with a cybernetic one. Project Cybersyn never fully delivered on its ambition, but the questions it raised are the Cognitive Imperative restated in historical form. What if a technical information system could enable a market to learn and adapt, rather than replace it?
MARCH 24 2026
Cities cannot adapt to what they cannot see
Simon Giles and Matthew Claudel
Cities are governing by rearview mirror, relying on lagging, fragmented data that describes where they’ve already been, not where they’re headed. Adaptive Urbanism demands a shift from measuring stocks to measuring flows: not just what exists, but how fast it’s changing and in which direction. This is the Cognitive Imperative: one of the four imperatives of Adaptive Urbanism that depends on comprehensive observation to accurately asses the conditions and trajectories of a place.
MARCH 12 2026 | ADAPTIVE URBANISM
When the network is the factory
Mora Orensanz and Matthew Claudel
Providence made costume jewelry; Grand Rapids made furniture. Both built an industrial ecosystem—talent pools, supplier networks, and specialized knowledge embedded in neighborhoods and buildings. When markets shifted, neither of these cities rebuilt the same thing. One leveraged flexible architecture and a dense district to diversify into new industries; and in the other, the myth of an iconic product persisted across two centuries and an entirely new material paradigm. There is no single recipe for a resilient urban economy, but both of these cities have lessons for rebuilding after a shock.
MARCH 5 2026 | PRODUCTION POTENTIAL
Interview with Michael Wilkerson
Matthew Claudel
Michael Wilkerson works at the intersection of public policy and private real estate economics, and he is arguably the most visible economist working on Portland’s urban condition. He has authored the analyses that validate and in some cases, challenge the Adaptive Urbanism thesis. This is the first in a series of recorded interviews for adaptive urbanism.
MARCH 24 2026 | ADAPTIVE URBANISM
Vertical integration and regional economies
Mora Orensanz and Matthew Claudel
Detroit and Rochester built their economies around brands the whole world knew—Ford and Kodak—and both paid a price when these names contracted. This week we look at what each city was left with, and why the outcomes diverged. The answer has less to do with how successful the flagship company was than with the web of firms, workers, and knowledge that surrounded it.
MARCH 12 2026 | PRODUCTION POTENTIALCommissioned Research
Field Discovery produces contract research, feasibility studies, white papers, and policy analysis—the same analytical rigor behind our consulting work, applied to a specific question.
WHAT WE PRODUCEPolicy Analysis
Evaluating existing or proposed measures
Market Intelligence
Detecting early signals, trend analysis, and precedent studies
Custom Research
We embrace difficult challenges and great ideas
Interested in commissioning research?
Schedule a call to share your ideas, and we will scope a research engagement around rigorous, independent analysis.