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New Telecommunications and Residential Location Flexibility

Information and communications technologies are now used by a rapidly increasing number of people as means of spatial interaction. This has two major effects on transportation: (1) telecommunications partially substitute for travel to the workplace and to some other preexisting destinations; and (2) often indirectly, telecommunications stimulate new activities and generate extra travel. In this paper, I first develop an analytical framework for understanding changes in residential location flexibility that result from the direct travel substitution effect. I then apply this analytical tool to an exploration of the emerging urban spatial structure in the information age; alternative scenarios of telecommunications usage are simulated in a hypothetical metropolitan setting, and insightful results are obtained. The simulation is followed by a discussion of the role of urban planning in shaping the future pattern of residential growth. In an effort to stimulate further thinking and research, I point out in the conclusion that the analytical approach should be extended by taking into account the travel generation effect of telecommunications, and could be incorporated into land-use models.