ABSTRACT
A third range of analytical approaches to city-telecommunications relations can be grouped under the broad heading dystopianism and urban political economy. Dystopianists and political economists stress the ways in which the development and application of telematics technologies are not somehow separate from society. Rather, they are fully inscribed into the political, economic and social relations of capitalism. Following this, telecommunications and electronic spaces are not seen as simple determinants of urban change. Nor are they cast as panaceas or ‘quickfix’ technical solutions to urban problems. According to this approach, citytelecommunications relations cannot be understood without considering the broader political, economic, social and cultural relations of advanced industrial society and how they are changing.
