ABSTRACT
Places are understood as sites of social activity, and this is particularly true for urban public space. Social interactions and activities are dependent on settings or situations which are guided by the physical setting. Mobile and wireless media have specialized infrastructures, and as these technologies emerge in the city, they become overlaid with existing urban infrastructures. The individual's image of the city, which they use to navigate and orientate themselves within urban space, is no longer simply confined to physical elements and configurations. The infrastructures of mobile communication technologies offer significant issues for the way in which urban space is perceived and constructed. The fundamental role of space in structuring activities in the digital world is underlined by the widespread use of spatial metaphors in digital worlds: caf, library, electronic highway, home and rooms are common ways of describing the properties of digital spaces.
