Digital Cities and Digital Citizens

Cities are providing the physical environment for an increasing number of the world’s citizens. They are also becoming the locus for a variety of “virtual”, networked digitally-based economic, political, and cultural activities. Digital cities represent a new manifestation of this phenomenon. Digital cities, like their physical analogies, geographical or “real” cities, are only so much infrastructure unless animated with human social presence. This paper focuses on this social presence, particularly the type of social presence typified by the idea of “citizen,” for it is primarily through the work of this social entity that social problems get addressed and social “progress” is furthered. Several socio-technical innovations such as community networks are explored as are possible roles for the computer professional.