From Communities to Mobile Communities of Values

Abstract

The discussion around the impact of information communication technologies in human social interaction has been the centre of many studies and discussions. From 1960 until 1990, researchers, academics, business writers, and futurist novelists have tried to anticipate the impact of these technologies in society, in particular, in cities and urban centres (Graham, 2004). The views during these three decades, although different in many aspects, share in common a deterministic view of the impact of ICT on cities and urban centres. They all see ICT influence as a dooming factor to the existence of cities. These authors have often seen ICT as a leading factor in the disappearance of urban centres and/or cities (Graham; Marvin, 1997; Negroponte, 1995). According to Graham, these views tend to portray ICT impact without taking into consideration the fact that old technologies are not always replaced by newer ones; they can also superimpose and combine into to something else. These views also have generally assumed that the impact of ICT would be the same in all places and have not accounted for geographic differences that could affect the use of information communication technologies.