Societies and Cities in the Age of Instant Access


Book Description

We are on the verge of what many are calling the "second information revolution," based on ubiquitous access to both computing and information. The technologies of instant access have potential to transform dramatically our lives. This book contains chapters by leading international experts. They discuss issues surrounding the impact of instant access on cities, daily lives, transportation, privacy, social and economic networks, community and education.




The Routledge Research Companion to Media Geography


Book Description

This Companion provides an authoritative source for scholars and students of the nascent field of media geography. While it has deep roots in the wider discipline, the consolidation of media geography has started only in the past decade, with the creation of media geography’s first dedicated journal, Aether, as well as the publication of the sub-discipline’s first textbook. However, at present there is no other work which provides a comprehensive overview and grounding. By indicating the sub-discipline’s evolution and hinting at its future, this volume not only serves to encapsulate what geographers have learned about media but also will help to set the agenda for expanding this type of interdisciplinary exploration. The contributors-leading scholars in this field, including Stuart Aitken, Deborah Dixon, Derek McCormack, Barney Warf, and Matthew Zook-not only review the existing literature within the remit of their chapters, but also articulate arguments about where the future might take media geography scholarship. The volume is not simply a collection of individual offerings, but has afforded an opportunity to exchange ideas about media geography, with contributors making connections between chapters and developing common themes.




Modeling Urban Dynamics


Book Description

The field of Urban Dynamics itself is based on the systems engineering concept that all complex systems (and cities and urban areas are no exception) are comprised of independent and often smaller, more understandable sub-components with relationships to one another. This allows for the system as a whole to be modeled, using knowledge of the individual subsystems and their behaviors. In this instance, urban dynamics allows for the modeling and understanding of land use, the attractiveness of space to residents, and how the ageing and obsolescence of buildings affects planning and economic development, as well as population movements, with the urban landscape. The book adopts a trans-disciplinary approach that looks at the way residential mobility, commuting patterns, and travel behavior affect the urban form. It addresses a series of issues dealing with the accessibility of urban amenities, quality of life, and assessment of landscape residential choices, as well as measurement of external factors in the urban environment and their impact on property values.




Cities of the World


Book Description

Remarkably, more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, and the numbers grow daily as people abandon rural areas. This fully updated and revised fifth edition of the classic text offers readers a comprehensive set of tools for understanding the urban landscape, and, by extension, the world's politics, cultures, and economies. Providing a sweeping overview of world urban geography, a group of noted experts explores the eleven major global regions. Each author presents the region's urban history, economy, culture, and society, as well as urban spatial models and problems and prospects. Environmental, human security, globalization, and cyberspace topics are fully developed as well. Vignettes of seventy-eight key cities give the reader a vivid understanding of daily life and the "spirit of place." An introductory chapter presents an overview of key terms and concepts, and a concluding chapter projects the world's urban future. Liberally illustrated with a new selection of photographs, maps, and diagrams, the text also includes a rich array of textboxes to highlight key topics ranging from gender and the city to Islamic fashion and global warming. Bibliographic sources, websites, and an appendix of UN data provide additional resources for helping students understand more about the urban world. Clearly written and timely, Cities of the World will be invaluable for those teaching introductory or advanced classes on global cities, regional geography, and urban studies. Contributions by: Amal K. Ali, Lisa Benton-Short, Alana Boland, Tim Brothers, Stanley D. Brunn, Kam Wing Chan, Ipsita Chatterjee, Megan Dixon, Robyn Dowling, Ashok K. Dutt, Irma Escamilla, Rina Ghose, Brian J. Godfrey, Mark Graham, Angela Gray-Subulwa, Jessica K. Graybill, Maureen Hays-Mitchell, Corey Johnson, Nathaniel M. Lewis, Linda McCarthy, Pauline McGuirk, Garth A. Myers, Arnisson Andre Ortega, Francis Owusu, George M. Pomeroy, Joseph L. Scarpaci, Dona J. Stewart, James A. Tyner, and Donald J. Zeigler.




Society and the Internet


Book Description

This second edition of Society and the Internet provides key readings for students, scholars, and those interested in understanding the interactions of the Internet and society, introducing new and original contributions examining the escalating concerns around social media, disinformation, big data, and privacy.




The Moral Economy of Mobile Phones


Book Description

The moral economy of mobile phones implies a field of shifting relations among consumers, companies and state actors, all of whom have their own ideas about what is good, fair and just. These ideas inform the ways in which, for example, consumers acquire and use mobile phones; companies promote and sell voice, SMS and data subscriptions; and state actors regulate both everyday use of mobile phones and market activity around mobile phones. Ambivalence and disagreement about who owes what to whom is thus an integral feature of the moral economy of mobile phones. This volume identifies and evaluates the stakes at play in the moral economy of mobile phones. The six main chapters consider ethnographic cases from Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu. The volume also includes a brief introduction with background information on the recent ‘digital revolution’ in these countries and two closing commentaries that reflect on the significance of the chapters for our understanding of global capitalism and the contemporary Pacific.




Geographical Information and Urban Transport Systems


Book Description

Urban transport systems need to be analyzed from various perspectives: the offer on one hand, the demand on the other hand, but also their negative externalities (risks of transport systems). These three dimensions are rarely apprehended in an integrated perspective. This book provides a large collection of chapters dealing with these specific dimensions, each written by recognized specialists in their domain, and articulates them in an integrated way.




The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media


Book Description

The last decade has witnessed the rise of the cell phone from a mode of communication to an indispensable multimedia device, and this phenomenon has led to the burgeoning of mobile communication studies in media, cultural studies, and communication departments across the academy. The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media seeks to be the definitive publication for scholars and students interested in comprehending all the various aspects of mobile media. This collection, which gathers together original articles by a global roster of contributors from a variety of disciplines, sets out to contextualize the increasingly convergent areas surrounding social, geosocial, and mobile media discourses. Features include: comprehensive and interdisciplinary models and approaches for analyzing mobile media; wide-ranging case studies that draw from this truly global field, including China, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, as well as Europe, the UK, and the US; a consideration of mobile media as part of broader media ecologies and histories; chapters setting out the economic and policy underpinnings of mobile media; explorations of the artistic and creative dimensions of mobile media; studies of emerging issues such as ecological sustainability; up-to-date overviews on social and locative media by pioneers in the field. Drawn from a range of theoretical, artistic, and cultural approaches, The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media will serve as a crucial reference text to inform and orient those interested in this quickly expanding and far-reaching field.




The Mobile Story


Book Description

What happens when stories meet mobile media? In this cutting-edge collection, contributors explore digital storytelling in ways that look beyond the desktop to consider how stories can be told through mobile, locative, and pervasive technologies. This book offers dynamic insights about the new nature of narrative in the age of mobile media, studying digital stories that are site-specific, context-aware, and involve the reader in fascinating ways. Addressing important topics for scholars, students, and designers alike, this collection investigates the crucial questions for this emerging area of storytelling and electronic literature. Topics covered include the histories of site-specific narratives, issues in design and practice, space and mapping, mobile games, narrative interfaces, and the interplay between memory, history, and community.




Past Mobilities


Book Description

The new mobilities paradigm has yet to have the same impact on archaeology as it has in other disciplines in the social sciences - on geography, sociology and anthropology in particular - yet mobility is fundamental to archaeology: all people move. Moving away from archaeology’s traditional focus upon place or location, this volume treats mobility as a central theme in archaeology. The chapters are wide-ranging and methodological as well as theoretical, focusing on the flows of people, ideas, objects and information in the past; they also focus on archaeology’s distinctiveness. Drawing on a wealth of archaeological evidence for movement, from paths, monuments, rock art and boats, to skeletal and DNA evidence, Past Mobilities presents research from a range of examples from around the world to explore the relationship between archaeology and movement, thus adding an archaeological voice to the broader mobilities discussion. As such, it will be of interest not only to archaeologists and historians, but also to sociologists, geographers and anthropologists.