ABSTRACT
There are, however, serious problems in relying on this simple dichotomous model of city-telecommunication interactions. While the tensions between the centralising and decentralising roles of telecommunications provide a useful device for examining the future of the city, it fails to capture the complex and contradictory nature of the linkages. Previous chapters have analysed a wide range of economic, social and environmental issues raised by telecommunications, but it is difficult to insert these debates into the simple dichotomous model. In fact, it is clear that a range of different relationships exist between the physical form of urban places and the development of electronic spaces. We highlight four key aspects of city-telecommunications relations. We have termed these ‘physical and developmental synergies’, ‘substitution effects’, ‘generation effects’ and ‘enhancement effects’, shown diagrammatically in Figure 8.2. This typology usefully shows the dynamic interplay between cities and telecommunications that we have explored through this book and has profound implications for the physical form of the contemporary city.
