How the Information Revolution Is Shaping Our Communities
by Pamela Blais
An introduction to the impacts information technologies are having on jobs, the economy, and the demand for office and commercial space.
From PCJ #24, Fall 1996
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In the last two decades edge cities have emerged, city centers
struggled, and many mid-size metro areas boomed. Recently, work
has begun moving back to the home (reversing a 200 year trend),
while an increasing number of office buildings are being
converted to residential use.
These are just some of the shifting patterns linked to the
information revolution -- a term that refers not only to
computer and telecommunications technology, but to the role of
information itself, and the accompanying transformations in the
public, corporate, and personal worlds that the information and
the technology are bringing about.
The information revolution has far-reaching impacts that we are
only beginning to understand, affecting local economies, central
cities, suburbs and towns, travel patterns, and floorspace
requirements. Planners need to understand these impacts. Much of
the emphasis so far in the planning field has been on the
relocation of work from office to home. But this is just one
small part of a complex, multi-layered transformation.
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