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Smartphone’s Influence on Public Space

PIs: Prof. Dr. Tali Hatuka, Tel Aviv University

      Dr. Eran Toch, engineering

The impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on urban development has become a central topic in theories about the global city, informational city, mega city, and related concepts. Influential scholars such as Manuel Castells, Peter Hall, Graham Stephan, and Bill Mitchel have predicted that ICTs will profoundly transform cities. They emphasize how telecommunications will reshape the hierarchy of cities worldwide and redefine global relationships between states and cities. However, these studies mainly focus on macro-level models and often overlook how the micro-temporal aspects of technology influence individuals and spatial perceptions. Geographers Nigel Thrift and Doreen Massey have recently addressed these gaps by urging analysis of daily practices and trajectories from both spatial and temporal viewpoints. Based on these perspectives, the challenge in urban geography and computational research is to understand how technology affects our perception and interaction with space. We hypothesize that ICTs, with their flexibility and numerous options, are also disciplinary tools that reorganize space, time, and activity relationships, thereby affecting judgment and perception. Specifically, ICTs have altered dialogical practices and collaborative actions, which in turn influence the use and meaning of public space.

For further reading:

Hatuka, T., & Toch, E. (2016). The emergence of portable private-personal territory (PT): Smartphones, social conduct and public spaces, Urban Studies, 53(10), 2192–2208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014524608

Hatuka, T., & Toch E. (2016). Being visible in public space: The normalization of asymmetrical visibility, Urban Studies, 54(4), 984–998. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098015624384

Support for this project was provided by the Vice President of Research and Development, Tel Aviv University

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