Planning the digital city

This article summarizes a keynote address that was delivered to the 1999 CIP Conference. It looks at how the global information society is reshaping urban systems, cities, towns and communities, and what planners could be doing to anticipate and respond to these radical transformations in work living business and urban environments. Seven "key drivers" of change are presented, thus providing a framework to help planners analyze change in their own communities. Some urban outcomes associated with these trends are described. Finally, suggestions are put forward regarding the ways in which planners should respond to the changes, in order to take advantage of the many opportunities presented by the global information society, and to mitigate potential problems.