Resumen
A new kind of urbanization is emerging today, this time in the virtual world of the Internet, where millions of consumers and businesses alike congregate to engage in socioeconomic activity. There is a rise in the use of mobile devices and a pervasive Internet-based cyberinfrastructure in the form of large, complex portals as centers of business transactions, personal ambition and social activity for millions of people worldwide. The article by Lee Sproull and John Patterson focuses on Net-based social networks and communities, discussing how relationships among people living in physical cities are being altered as they increasingly depend on virtual cities for social interaction and organization, commercial activity and collaboration. The article by Donald Ferguson et al. proposes principles for designing information city infrastructures based on open standards, including Web services, making it possible for suppliers, buyers, municipalities, schools, hospitals and others to seamlessly connect to information cities and offer a range of services to participants and outsiders alike.