Netspaces: Space and Place in a Networked World

摘要

In Netspaces: Space and Place in a Networked World, Katharine S. Willis explores how technology might change the experience and design of the built environment, the meaning of these changes, how they are taking place and the effects this is having on urban space, all matters of great importance for all those working in the field of urban e-planning. The aim of the book, as Katharine S. Willis refers, is to interpret and explain the way networked technologies and infrastructures impact on how we experience and inhabit urban space and to infer from these impacts the consequences for the design of cities. The evidence and the insights the author offers makes this book an important addition to the literature on urban e-planning and as such should be commended. The book is organized in six main chapters. Each chapter addresses a different aspect of how networked technologies and infrastructures affect space, being each of them illustrated by a case study (e.g., cloud/data centre; foursquare; public Wi-Fi network; urban screens; media use in transit spaces; smart home). The book ends with the discussion of future challenges for the design of urban spaces. Each chapter has its own bibliographic list and at the end the book includes also a consolidated list of references.