Telecommunications and the Large City-Small City Divide: Evidence from Indiana Cities*

Urban systems are increasingly dominated by large cities that house a disproportionate share of telecommunications infrastructure. This paper investigates whether telecommunications is defining a technological divide between large and smaller cities. The paper provides a conceptual basis for large-city dominance and presents the results of surveys that investigate the use of telecommunications in medium and small Indiana cities. The survey data indicate that telecommunications is used by the set of Indiana cities, but is less prevalent among the set of smallest cities. Chi-square tests, however, suggest that city size does not adequately explain these variations in use.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Marine Resources of Kuwait: Their Role in the Development of Non-oil Resources . Fatimah H. Y. al -Abdul -Razzak Recollections of a Revolution: Geography as Spatial Science . Mark Billinge , Derek Gregory and Ron Martin Entre l'Eden et l'Utopie . Luc Bureau Developments in Political Geography . M. A. Busteed The Elements of Graphing Data . William S. Cleveland Rural Resource Management . Paul J. Cloke and Chris C. Park Third World Atlas . Ben Crow and Alan Thomas Exploitation, Conservation, Preservation: A Geographic Perspective on Natural Resource Use . Susan L. Cutter , Hilary Lambert Renwick, and William H. Renwick . Wine Regions of the Southern Hemisphere . Harm Jan de Blij Regional Development: Problems and Policies in Eastern and Western Europe . George Demko The Geographer at Work . Peter R. Gould Change in the Amazon Basin . John Hemming Geography Since the Second World War . R. J. Johnston and P. Claval Urbanization in China: Town and Countryside in a Developing Economy 1949–2000 A.D. , R. J. R. Kirkby Transport and Communications for Pacific Microstates: Issues in Organisation and Management . Christopher C. Kissling Fluvial Forms and Processes . David Knighton The Urban Millennium . Josef W. Konvitz Technological Transition in Cartography . Mark Stephen Monmonier Field Guide to Soils and the Environment: Applications of Soil Surveys . Gerald W. Olson Northern Australia: The Arenas of Life and Ecosystems on Half a Continent . Don Parkes A Killing Rain: The Global Threat of Acid Rain . Thomas Pawlick From the Family Farm to Agribusiness: The Irrigation Crusade in California and the West, 1850–1931 . Donald J. Pisani Hybrid Maize Diffusion in Kenya . Franz -Michael Rundquist Warning and Response to the Mount St. Helens Eruption . Thomas F. Saarinen and James L. Sell Coastal Geomorphology in Australia . B. G. Thom Tropical Rain Forests of the Far East , 2nd ed . T. C. Whitmore The Dark Side of the Earth . Robert Muir Wood Categorical Data Analysis for Geographers and Environmental Scientists , Neil Wrigley     

Trends In Land Use Regulations In Coastal Zones

Financial services are undergoing a major period of internationalization. National markets are interlinked by telecommunications, a process induced through deregulation and new communications technologies. This paper reviews the recent, intertwined trends in the finance and telecommunications industries in light of urban and regional restructuring theory, cites several company-specific examples, explores the impacts on the international urban hierarchy and the labor process (e.g., back offices), and assesses the role of teleports. Finally, it offers an agenda for further research.     

TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES*

Financial services are undergoing a major period of internationalization. National markets are interlinked by telecommunications, a process induced through deregulation and new communications technologies. This paper reviews the recent, intertwined trends in the finance and telecommunications industries in light of urban and regional restructuring theory, cites several company-specific examples, explores the impacts on the international urban hierarchy and the labor process (e.g., back offices), and assesses the role of teleports. Finally, it offers an agenda for further research.     

Modeling the Spatial Diffusion of Mobile Telecommunications in China

This article empirically evaluates factors contributing to spatial variations of cellular telephony adoption at the regional level in China. We estimate a logistic model using a variety of specifications for the spatial diffusion of cellular telephony. We find that regional disparity in the adoption and subsequent diffusion speed of cellular telephony is associated with different levels in economic development, economic structure, foreign investment, and the level of fixed-line telephony penetration. The results suggest that mobile communications diffusion starts first in regions with a higher potential demand density and economic development level. However, these characteristics play differential roles in determining the timing of initial adoption and diffusion speed within regions.     

Farms in a Finnish village (Levanto) 1787–1916

Kampp, Aa. H. & Rikkinen, Kalevi, 1973: Farms in a Finnish Village (Levanto) 1787–1916. Geografisk Tidsskrift 72: 18–32. København, September 30, 1973.

The paper is a case study on a South-Finnish village as to number and size of holdings from the two-course rotation system in the 18th century to full reallotment in 1916.     

A NOTE ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF SPORT

The recent phenomenon of relative metropolitan decline and non-metropolitan growth is set into two broader frameworks: first, decentralization is an expected consequence of earlier industrialization and metropolitanization; and, second, the change follows a parallel shift in power, industrialization, and urbanization from the core to the periphery of the country. Evidence is found for both. The older industrial states thus exhibit non-metropolitan growth, whereas many newly industrializing states continue to show vigorous metropolitanization.     

A Note On Spatial Autocorrelation

BITNET is a telecommunications network for higher education. The network's general characteristics, services, the availability of BITNET to academic geographers, and their use of the system are examined. Although more than 80% of geography faculty in the United States and Canada are at BITNET-supported institutions, a survey of AAG Specialty Group chairs suggests that geographers' actual use of BITNET is relatively low.     

A General Framework for Mitigation-oriented Planning Assessments of Mobile Telecommunications Lifelines (MTL)

This article describes a generalframework for hazard mitigation-oriented planning assessments of mobile telecommunications lifelines. Geographic information systems (GIS) provide an integrated platform on which to operationalize this framework. Our view is that the creation and adoption of a mitigation-oriented assessment framework could provide the basis for better decision-making on the part of public officials and telecommunications carriers alike by providing a standard reference point for consultation and consensus-building. A standard point of consultation is a crucial first step toward a program of long-term risk reduction for emergency communications, contributing to more resilient communities across Canada.     

International Competition Between Satellite and Fiber Optic Carriers: A Geographic Perspective*

International telecommunications traffic relies entirely on two modes of transmission, satellites and fiber optics, which exhibit considerable but not complete fungibility. This article explores the economic and geographic dimensions of these two industries in the context of the growing market in global data and telephony traffic. First, it summarizes the changing conditions that have accentuated competition between them, including deregulation, technological change, and globalization. Next, it examines the changing cost structures, transmission capacities, and traffic volumes for each technology in the critical transatlantic and transpacific markets. Throughout, it documents the steady encroachment by fiber optics firms that threatens the viability of commercial satellite operators, a challenge the latter hope to meet though the growth of the cellular telephone market.