Anthony M. Townsend

Life in the Real-Time City: Mobile Telephones and Urban Metabolism

While in the past five years the Internet and World Wide Web have received a great deal of attention from the media a n d s c h o l a r s a l i k e , o t h e r telecommunications technologies have rapidly diffused in this period as well. Mobile telephones have been rapidly accepted throughout the urban world, particularly in countries with far lower levels of Internet use. While mobile telephones are sold as a technology that helps conquer constraints of location and geography, it is increasingly apparent that the time-management capabilities of this new tool are equally important. As a result, the widespread use of these devices is quickening of the pace of urban life and at an aggregate level, resulting in a dramatic increase in the metabolism of urban systems. This quickening metabolism is directly tied to the widespread formation of new decentralized information networks facilitated by this new technology. As a result, new paradigms for understanding the city and city planning in a decentralized context are discussed. 1. The Arrival of Mass Mobile Communications in the City While the Internet has received much attention in the years following the appearance of Mosaic and the World Wide Web in 1993, the technologies with which humans communicate have changed in myriad other ways during these few short years. The advent of inexpensive mass-produced mobile communications in particular, has avoided scholarly attention, perhaps because it seems pedestrian compared to the nebulous depths of cyberspace. Yet the cellular telephone, merely the first wave of an imminent invasion of portable digital communications tools to come, will undoubtedly lead to fundamental transformations in individuals’ perceptions of self and the world, and consequently the way they collectively construct that world. In so doing, mobile communications devices will have a profound effect on our cities as they are woven into the daily routines of urban inhabitants. Notwithstanding the general neglect of

The Internet Backbone and the American Metropolis

Despite the rapid growth of advanced telecommunications services, there is a lack of knowledge about the geographic diffusion of these new technologies. The Internet presents an important challenge to communications researchers, as it threatens to redefine the production and delivery of vital services including finance, retailing, and education. This article seeks to address the gap in the current literature by analyzing the development of Internet backbone networks in the United States between 1997 and 1999. We focus upon the intermetropolitan links that have provided transcontinental data transport services since the demise of the federally subsidized networks deployed in the 1970s and 1980s. We find that a select group of seven highly interconnected metropolitan areas consistently dominated the geography of national data networks, despite massive investment in this infrastructure over the study period. Furthermore, while prosperous and internationally oriented American cities lead the nation in adopting and deploying Internet technologies, interior regions and economically distressed cities have failed to keep up. As information-based industries and services account for an increasing share of economic activity, this evidence suggests that the Internet may aggravate the economic disparities among regions, rather than level them. Although the capacity of the backbone system has slowly diffused throughout the metropolitan system, the geographic structure of interconnecting links has changed little. Finally, the continued persistence of the metropolis as the center for telecommunications networks illustrates the need for a more sophisticated understanding of the interaction between societies and technological innovations.tions networks illustrates the need for a more sophisticated understanding of the interaction between societies and technological innovations.

The Internet and the Rise of the New Network Cities, 1969–1999

The recent rapid growth of the Internet has avoided scrutiny from urban planners as little information is available from which to assess its impacts on cities and regions. As a result, explanations of the relationship between telecommunications and urban growth are overly simplistic, forecasting either the centralization of decision-making in so-called ‘global’ cities or wholesale urban dissolution. Based on two measurements of Internet geography—domain name registrations and backbone networks—this study finds that access to advanced communications technologies have broadly diffused across a wide group of medium-sized and large-sized metropolitan areas. Finally, the implications of these findings suggest a need to rethink global cities and a practical need to address the growing divide between network cities and the rest of the urban world.

Network Cities and the Global Structure of the Internet

Cities have played an important role in the process of globalization as centers for information exchange. Urban scholars note that a handful of dominant financial services centers—so-called global cities—has dominated international telecommunications networks. Yet, these and others have failed to understand how new telecommunications technologies, particularly the Internet, are enabling a far broader diffusion of international interurban connectivity, a far more complex global web than in earlier eras. This article presents evidence on the Internet backbone in which traditionally dominant urban hubs for international communications—London, New York, and Tokyo—are increasingly being supplemented by other hubs within their regions. The global structure of the Internet reflects a shift in the geography of telecommunications networks and the emergence of a network of network cities. To cope with this challenge, urban planners are urged to address three issues: dependency on other cities and urban areas, accessibility to global Internet backbone networks, and proficiency with communications technology.

Why Wi-Fi wants to be free

As the telecommunications industry wavers, a global grassroots movement is building the next-generation wireless network.

Mobile communications in the twenty-first century city

The internet received widespread attention from social scientists in the years following the release of Mosaic in 1993 and subsequent growth of the world wide web. Yet, the technologies with which humans communicate changed significantly in many other ways during the 1990s. The mass diffusion of inexpensive mobile communications technologies avoided scholarly attention, perhaps because it seemed pedestrian compared to the fantastic, nebulous depths of cyberspace. Yet the mobile telephone represented merely the first wave of a torrent of personal technologies that were leading to fundamental transformations in individuals’ perceptions of self and the world, and consequently the way they collectively constructed that world.

The Role of the Real City in Cyberspace: Understanding Regional Variations in Internet Accessibility

Since 1993, when the first graphical web browser, Mosaic, was released into the public domain, the Internet has evolved from an obscure academic and military research network into an international agglomeration of public and private, local and global telecommunications systems. Much of the academic and popular literature has emphasized the distance-shrinking implications and placelessness inherent in these rapidly developing networks. However, the relationship between the physical and political geography of cities and regions and the virtual (or logical) geography of the Internet lacks a strong body of empirical evidence upon which to base such speculation.

Experience Richness: Effects of Training Method on Individual Technology Acceptance

The nature of the training experience a person is exposed to is an important contextual element influencing technology acceptance, but little research has explored the differences in technology acceptance for different types of training experiences. This research investigates the difference in technology acceptance for individuals experiencing different types of training. Our work builds on prior research by Venkatesh, Bandura, and others examining the technology acceptance model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and self-efficacy and this paper is focused on addressing several remaining questions raised by this research stream. Specifically, our research addresses the nature of training and user acceptance and our findings show that individuals who are exposed to vicarious experience training differ on many dimensions with regard to technology acceptance when compared to individuals experiencing direct, hands-on training.

Moving information in the twenty-first century city

This chapter on decision-making and the Gowanus Expressway is from a book on moving people, goods, and information in the 21st century. The author first reviews the situation under discussion, then reprints his interview with Albert Appleton. The Gowanus Expressway, part of the Federal Interstate Highway system, moves thousands of commuters to Lower Manhattan each day, and is a major route taken by trucks moving goods into Manhattan. The Gowanus Expressway was widened into a six-lane highway in 1961, but has not received any major reconstructions since then. The author describes the various studies and community concerns that happened during a review process between 1991 and 1996, noting that the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is now reviewing 13 different tunneling alternatives, along with three non-tunneling alternatives, one of which will be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), scheduled for release to the public late in 2004. The author notes that restructuring the NYSDOT process to include a full EIS and a detailed review of a Gowanus Tunnel as an alternative reflects a major change in decision making. The interview offers the account of one of the central actors who brought about that change. Albert Appleton, a mathematician and administrative lawyer by training, is now working with the Regional Plan Association (RPA) where his work focuses on innovative solutions to environmental and infrastructure problems.