An Approach to Representing the Spatial Structure of the Information Society

With recent advances in information and communications technologies (ICT), traditional conceptualizations and models of spatial interaction need updating. In a previous paper, this author developed an analytical framework that incorporated telecommunications capabilities as well as transportation modes and residential and work locations into a unified representation of the “geography of opportunities” (Shen, 1999). In this paper, the initial framework is extended by the inclusion in the formulation not only of employment opportunities, but also of other types of opportunities. Each type of opportunities is distributed among three components of geographic space: the physical space, the hybrid space, and the virtual space. The effects of ICT are captured by: (1) the saving of travel time for people who can partially substitute telecommunications for transportation as means to access opportunities in virtual and hybrid spaces and (2) the migration of opportunities from physical space to virtual and hybrid spaces. Individuals' position in the emerging spatial structure of the information society is measured in terms of accessibility to a wide range of economic and social opportunities. This new approach is shown to be an operational and promising analytical tool in a hypothetical setting. However, its refinement and application is currently constrained by the lack of systematically collected data on many aspects of the human geography. [Key words: telecommunications, human geography, spatial structure, spatial analysis.]