Place: The Networking of Public Space

Abstract

The digital network is pervasive in contemporary society. The proliferation of mobile phones and the growth of broadband in developed countries have increased the everyday accessibility, ubiquity, and mobility of technological networks. As a result, our concept of place has been dramatically altered, along with our sense of proximity and distance. This chapter examines both the networking of space and the spatiality of digital networks and looks at a series of key conditions ranging from the everyday superimposition of real and virtual spaces to the rise of a mobile sense of place and popular virtual worlds. It also considers the concept of telecocooning, RFIDs, and ubiquitous computing.