Urban telecommunications: A new planning context1

A number of emerging communications technologies are posing opportunities for urban and community development. Due to the complexity of these technologies, particularly of their market and regulatory implementation, a planning context is outlined for the resolution of some of the issues their advent is generating.Focusing on cable television, the paper points out how this technology could affect public services, land use and political life. It then suggests several motivating factors for the initiation of public planning activity in telecommunications. The paper ends by discussing overall criteria for the design of large-scale telecommunications systems as well as how planning responsibilities in this area might be allocated.