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Life-Oriented Behavioral Research for Urban Policy pp 149–173Cite as

ICT-Dependent Life and Its Impacts on Mobility

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Abstract

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) is revolutionizing people’s lives in many ways. Among their numerous impacts, ICT solutions allow for more flexibility in individuals’ schedules, and provide new alternatives for the organization of work, social and recreational activities. Several types of relationships are possible between the adoption of ICT and travel behavior, leading to the eventual complementarity with, substitution of, modification of, or neutrality with travel. Modern technologies play an important role in affecting individuals’ long- and medium-term decisions as well as numerous daily choices. The application of information and communication technologies is also behind the introduction of new shared mobility services that were barely imaginable only a few years ago. These services expand the set of travel options available to individuals. The effects of the availability and adoption of these technologies on individual behaviors are still largely unclear. They will likely cause long-lasting impacts on travel patterns, vehicle ownership, and life organization.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Technology can also make someone’s life more complicated, due to the need to learn how to use new technologies and services, the increased number of available activities and services, and the related burden on one’s time.

  2. 2.

    In this chapter, I generically refer to “others” as either other people (e.g. family members, friends, co-workers) or things (e.g. cell phones, TVs and other home appliances, personal vehicles, office and work networks).

  3. 3.

    This fact, per se, could be interpreted as a positive contribution to the quality of life of most individuals that have access to these modern solutions.

  4. 4.

    An important role in any political campaign is nowadays played by experts in public relations, as well as polling and online media consultants, who explore the trends in the electoral basis, and analyze the popularity of the political message. They recommend ways in which a candidate should address specific topics, or should communicate (keeping in high consideration the messages received from the political base and general audience) through popular online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

  5. 5.

    Also in the case of delocalization to remote regions or foreign countries, as discussed in more details in the following sections, ICTs play a central role in allowing firms to maintain communications among the members of a geographically distributed partnership, and between the central offices located in major cities and the remote production centers housed in the other regions (or countries) where labor (and other production) costs are lower.

  6. 6.

    An emblematic sign of the changes in economic activity associated with the rise of modern technologies is signaled by the rise of San Francisco and the Silicon Valley as one of the main cores of innovation and production of advanced hi-tech services and products, with the contemporaneous decline of Detroit, the former capital of the U.S. auto industry.

  7. 7.

    To date, all large retailers, and many smaller companies, have an internet presence, which compete with giant online retailers, such as Amazon.com, and e-shopping portals, such as E-bay.com, among others.

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Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful for the support and great contributions to the content of this chapter that I received from Patricia L. Mokhtarian and Farzad Alemi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Giovanni Circella

  2. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, USA

    Giovanni Circella

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  1. Giovanni Circella
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Correspondence to Giovanni Circella .

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  1. Hiroshima University , Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan

    Junyi Zhang

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Circella, G. (2017). ICT-Dependent Life and Its Impacts on Mobility. In: Zhang, J. (eds) Life-Oriented Behavioral Research for Urban Policy. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56472-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56472-0_6

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