Telecommunications and the city

Hey, I suppose this term has not been that good for me--minor health issues that prevent me from doing YouTube clips.  It is not that I could not get it done yesterday; I actually did.  But, I suppose the old adage that the face is a reflection of how well we feel is true--I looked and sounded quite horrible.  Well, more horrible than usual :-)  Unlike a regular classroom, a YouTube video with that much negatives ...... well, ....

So, I am going to engage you only through this text/visual email.

You might recall that Onion clip I earlier shared with you--about Blockbuster.   That is pretty much a story of how advances in telecommunications influence the physical built environment of a city.

Historic ‘Blockbuster’ Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past
One of the interesting issues with telecommunications and the city is whether this will cause dispersal or concentration, which is explored in the text as well.

But then even within the examples discussed in the text, we find that there is a great deal to debate about: for instance, the book presents an argument about universities as an example of geographic concentration.  Now, consider this class--it is online, which actually facilitates geographic dispersal!

In other words, there will be this intense duality of concentration and dispersal, which is not inconsistent with other forms of concentration and dispersal either.  Residential concentration in downtowns versus dispersal into the suburbs and exurbs is another classic example.  Even here, one could argue that telecommunications will facilitate telecommuting and disperse the population even more.  But, humans are not merely about work--families, entertainment, kids and schools, .... all these require geographic concentration.

Economic dispersal has certainly become way too easy thanks to telecommunications.  The growth of Bangalore or Hyderabad as important technology cities in India, while also functioning as the "back office" for the firms here in the US is the kind of geographic dispersal that would blow the minds of a time traveler from even 50 years ago.

So, for now, read the text--should be an interesting and easy reading.  And then read the two articles I have listed for this week.  Then re-read the text.  Why?  The next Discussion Question will be about these, and will be a fascinating one :-)