Telecommunication and the City

Abstract

Telecommunication has historically been interrelated with transportation. Since railroads first used the telegraph as a scheduling aid, this interrelationship has affected almost every mode of point-to-point and broadcast telecommunication. For example, commercial radio and television depend on advertising which, in turn, is dependent on the transportation of goods to and from urban market centers. Telecommunication also serves as a substitute for travel, greatly increasing the speed of information consumption and processing and greatly broadening the availability of information and entertainment to individual homes and moving vehicles. As long distance communication continues to decrease in cost, major urban centers will become more international, since they are the focal points of travel. Telecommunication will also assist the outward spread of metropolitan areas, but social and transportation factors will constrain this outward movement.