Building on the thesis that humans impute meaning to constructed urban places, the authors define three historical stages of created urban place from the perspective of those building and living in cities in the Western tradition. They contend that with postmodern conditions the mode of social organization is changing and that, as a result of this change, a qualitatively new form of space has developed. This space is a mental space called the space of flows or cyberspace. The authors argue that in this new stage, urban planning must be performed in a framework that is both ecological and cybernetic. The essay is an argument for the nexus of the disciplines of urban planning and communication studies.
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