ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some thoughts on changes in information technologies and their impact on urban form. It focuses on urban change in the developed, capitalist countries since this is where the new technologies are most likely to make their first impact. The chapter explores the characteristics of several prominent (or possibly prominent) technologies and then highlights how these help people rise in their hierarchy of goals. Since people seem to depend on more information as they mature, economic demand naturally increases. The chapter examines this phenomenon, as well as the supply (production) side, paying particular attention to the impacts of technology on information overload. It then explores the implications for urban form, in part through the use of a model for integrating trends. Gathering, storing and transmitting information somehow is technologically much easier than using it productively.
