10
HOFSTRAHORIZONS
C
an community be sustained in
the 21st century without
dependency on global media
connections? To what degree
does our contemporary vision
of community depend on communication?
How much can a community
depend upon external connections
and remain an identifiable community?
Paul Goldberger, the former architectural
critic of The New York Times, has
described the urban impulse as “an
impulse toward community — an
impulse toward being together, and
toward accepting the idea that however
different we may be, something unites
us” (Goldberger, p. 3).
The World Charter on the Right to the
City, a document developed by a range
of social movements, municipalities,
national governments, universities and
non-governmental organizations, was
proposed in 2004. It is an instrument
invented in order to recognize the ideal
characteristics of a city, those that make
a city more human, more sustainable
and more democratic. This instrument
helps to accomplish these goals by identifying
those rights that complement and
extend the exercise of city-dwellers’ classic
individual human rights. The charter
calls for these rights to be recognized as
part of the international human rights
system, and is being used by UN-HABITAT
and UNESCO to launch an international
debate about these issues.
The charter predicted that by 2005,
urbanization would have reached 65
percent. This means that the conditions
of people living in cities with regard to
physical, economic and social needs are
becoming an ever more critical concern
in terms of quality of life around the
world. Demographic trends also reflect
a move toward suburbanization, a
process begun on Long Island. The combination
of the physical and virtual technologies
of transportation and communication
define cities, suburbs and rural
areas, and the relationship between
them. The city has many faces: some
contemporary and some historical. We
are not neutral about whether an environment
is urban, suburban or rural
because we live, work, go to school,
shop and play in these linked environments.
These landscapes are the sites of
social interaction once thought to be
essential to our social well-being. But
these landscapes have also been fundamentally
altered by two major developments:
transportation and communication
— both of which have radically
altered our “geography of place.”
The study of urban communication
begins with the notion that cities are
inherently places and products of communication,
and they provide meeting
spaces for interaction and/or observation.
However, urban America and suburbia
are facing a critical time.
Communication technologies alter the
relationship between city and individual.
In addition to traditional face-to-face
communication, the urban communication
environment includes: regional and
local media, the ethnic press, the global
media, and the media technologies that
provide security through surveillance,
such as closed-circuit television (CCTV)
surveillance cameras, microphones and
even webcams. Images of the city in
journalism and popular culture abound
in music, films, television and advertising.
Cell phone towers, broadband and
Wi-Fi rollout challenge public and private
policy makers who seek to find
ways to maintain, update and improve
cities by integrating the latest technologies.
Major initiatives that rely on media
technologies to make urban streets safe
and rejuvenate city centers are taking
place throughout the country. These
programs are reflected in the widespread
introduction of Internet protocol (IP)
networked closed-circuit television
(CCTV) camera systems like those
installed throughout Chicago, and free
wireless Internet access in urban public
places, as evidenced by a project being
undertaken in Philadelphia. The
Executive Committee of Wireless
Urban and Suburban
Communication
in the Digital AgeSusan Drucker
Professor
Department of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations
HOFSTRAHORIZONS
11
Philadelphia describes the initiative as a
project that “aims to strengthen the
city’s economy and transform
Philadelphia’s neighborhoods by providing
wireless Internet access throughout
the city. Wireless Philadelphia will work
to create a digital infrastructure for
open-air Internet access and to help citizens,
businesses, schools, and community
organizations make effective use of
this technology to achieve their goals
while providing a greater experience for
visitors to the city” (Wireless
Philadelphia Mission Statement, 2005).
The study of urban communication
around the world has spawned new
research and curriculum development
and a new foundation to promote and
support this work. In the Media Studies
program at Hofstra University, a special
topics course titled “Media and Urban
Communication” has been offered. The
author is a founding board member of
the newly formed Urban Communication
Foundation, which was established with
the recognition that urban centers and
suburbia (intimately connected) are facing
a critical time, and that communication
scholars have much to contribute
to this issue. The fundamental questions
being asked are:
1) What can communication research and
theory provide in order to better understand
and design vibrant urban centers?
2) Should city planning and media planning
be linked and coordinated?
3) What can communication experts con-
tribute?
4) What is the role of journalism in maintaining
a community?
There was a time when newspaper
coverage and the city were synonymous.
All else was peripheral. There was a
time when radio and television were primarily
local and served to define place,
particularly important from a regulatory
perspective. There was a time when
local broadcast coverage and the city
were synonymous. In terms of radio and
television, the de-emphasis of locality
can be traced to the rise of clear channel
stations and super stations, cable and
then satellite. As we gained the ability to
communicate over broader and broader
areas, local became regional, local was
removed from place, and some local
went global. Now we speak of things
“glocal.”
There was also a time when the
telephone defined community —
defined by operators, party lines, the
name of a person or a business’s telephone
exchange and later by the area
code and dialing prefix. We are now in
the process of “de-locationizing” the
telephone — triggered by the rise in use
of the mobile phone. This is due to the
mobile phone operating from
“nowhere.” There was a time when the
regulation of broadcasting was based on
geography and the public interest of a
community. But was there ever a time
Millennium Park, Chicago, November 2004. Photo by Susan Drucker.
12
HOFSTRAHORIZONS
when cities were recognized as central
to communication and journalism studies,
structured programs that can provide
relevant expertise?
The state of community in the city
and suburb is a precarious one, as it
faces serious challenges from a number
of internal and external sources:
1) Corporatization
2) Immigration
3) Balkanization
4) Gentrification
5) Communication technologies
Communication technology has
been the product of careful economic
planning; however, its accelerated rate of
invention over the past few decades and
its integration into the fabric of consciousness
has been so gradual as to
appear seamless. We
are so immersed in a
technological world
that it has become virtually
(in the old sense
of the word – almost
or nearly) impossible
to examine ourselves
and the transformation
of self and city and
suburb by increments
in the advancement of
communication tech-
nology.
Innovation is
often linked to a sense
of apprehension and
uncertainty. In the 15th
century, uncertainty
surrounded the introduction of moveable
type and altered the way we communicate
knowledge, which in effect
altered our views regarding worship.
Printing put the Bible into the hands of
all people; it was no longer a luxury
item for the few, and is evidenced by the
rise of Protestantism, with its doctrine
of the “priesthood of all believers.”
The invention of television as a mass
form of entertainment and news was
seen by some critics as a threat to the
more traditional forms of performance
and news dissemination – the stage, the
motion picture, and the newspaper. And
the impact of each new medium was
radical and changed the nature of social
interaction. Each of these inventions
altered the urban place as it relates to
the intricate nature of mass communication,
interpersonal interaction, and public
space. We express concern about the
impact of communication innovation
upon the urban landscape. We continue
to ask similar questions regarding the
impact of the digital revolution upon
our traditional conceptualization of the
city. What impact will Wi-Fi have upon
social spaces? How does the ubiquitous
mobile telephone alter our sense of privacy
and our relationships with others?
Will the integration of the telephone
and text messaging plus Voice over
Internet Protocol devices alter the concept
of the office and
the workplace? To
what extent will
increased telecommunication
mobility be
reflected in the design
and development of
housing? How is public
space augmented or
enhanced through
communication tech-
nologies?
New technology is
constructed upon the
accumulated layers of
previous innovations.
Each period of technological
change and
innovation creates new expectations and
assumptions. Communication scholars
refer to these different periods as media
generations.
Cities and their media infrastructure
are built by layering one media era
upon another. As archaeologists unearth
layers of history through the process of
excavation, layers of technologies accumulate,
reshaping and sometimes obliterating
the previous media generation.
As durable and eternal as the form and
function of the city can appear, the rise
of new technologies incrementally
erodes the form, function and influence
a city can exert. For many, unaugmented
cities (those without radical communication
innovations, such as fiber optic
cables) are outdated relics of the past
while others look to augmented cities
and digital communities as the means of
salvation, supporting the continued
value of cities. Augmented or traditional,
the fundamental function of a city is
still the heart of the matter. The challenge
for current society is to maintain a
sense of community without creating
more and more isolated or fragmented
populations who rely solely on these
new forms of media for communication.
To this end, communication scholars
have been working. With their varied
expertise, we scholars have been trying
to affect public policy and law to
prevent the uncontrolled evolution of
media technology and its effects. The
World Charter on the Right to the City
represents an important step in the
effort to critically examine the urban
condition and the quality of life and
civil society in cities. The charter, while
considering the challenges of globalization,
is weakened by not explicitly
addressing the fundamental issues of
London's city lights display the interconnectedness of
modern technology. Photo by Susan Drucker.
Modern urban life,
shifting demographics,
and the ascendancy
of suburbanism
challenge scholars
and policy
makers with
diverse expertise.
HOFSTRAHORIZONS
13
Susan J. Drucker joined the faculty of
Hofstra University in 1989 as an assistant professor
in the Department of Speech Arts and
Sciences. Today, she is a professor in the
Department of Journalism, Media Studies and
Public Relations, as well as an accomplished
scholar. Professor Drucker earned a B.A.,
summa cum laude, from Queens College of the
City University of New York with a joint major in
communication and political science as well as a
major in history. She earned a J.D. from St.
John’s University School of Law and subsequently
earned an M.A., summa cum laude, in media
studies from Queens College/CUNY. At St.
John’s University, she specialized in constitutional
law and its relationship to communication and
media. In addition to this specialty, she focused
on land use and real estate law. Although these
areas may seem removed from each other, they
are both relevant to her research on communication
and the city today.
Professor Drucker teaches courses in
communication law, media history and society;
global media; urban communication; celebrity,
media and culture; and media and privacy.
She has also been involved in further curriculum
development in the Media Studies program.
She serves as faculty adviser to Lambda
Pi Eta Honor Society and is the track coordinator
of Media Studies. She is on the Board of
Directors of the Urban Communications
Foundation, an organization supporting
research on communication and the urban con-
dition.
Professor Drucker specializes in communication
and law, cross-cultural communication
and the relationship of communication technologies
to public space. Her work examines the
relationship between media technology and
human factors, particularly as viewed from a
legal perspective. She is on the board of directors
of the recently established Urban
Communication Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit
organization supporting research on communication
and the urban condition. She publishes
extensively on the emerging laws of cyberspace,
press freedoms, and wired cities. Much of her
published work on urban communication has
been co-authored with her longtime writing partner,
Professor Gary Gumbert. She lectures widely
internationally.
Professor Drucker is the recipient of numerous
awards, including the Eastern Communication
Association’s Distinguished Research Fellow Award
(2002), Distinguished Teaching Fellow Award
(2004), and Distinguished Service Award (2005).
Her most recent books include Real Law @
Virtual Space: The Regulation of Cyberspace
(2nd edition), co-edited with Gary Gumpert. She
is currently working on a volume titled The
Communication Division of Cyprus. Her latest
book, Heroes in a Global World (with Gary
Gumpert), will be published by Hampton Press
in spring 2006.
communication so integral to cities
today and in the future. Among the 23
articles of the charter, two address
dimensions of communication. Article
VI underscores the importance of the
right to public information from city
administrations, or from the legislative
or judicial authorities; this in an age
when e-government and digital cities
offer “one-stop” public access for local
information. From news channels
broadcasting 24/7 to the proliferation of
online publications, the illusion is the
apparent increased coverage and information
about government. Article IX
reaffirms the right of association, assembly,
expression and the democratic use
of urban public space, emphasizing that
cities should make public spaces available
for meetings and informal gatherings.
However, the social functions of
the city and the technological communication
infrastructure are neglected in the
document.
“In the 20th
century the prosperity
of communities was defined largely by
the proximity of an interstate highway
to the community. Today, communities
and neighborhood developments with
affordable broadband access and good
connections to regional and national
networks will prosper” (Cohill, p. 60).
Many cities and suburbs are repairing
decaying infrastructure while building
new communication infrastructures to
provide services like broadband access.
Ubiquitous computing, mobile, wireless
connectivity, fiber optic telecommunications
systems, and surveillance cameras
reflect the wiring of cities; they are now
a reality and a part of our everyday lives.
Modern urban life, shifting demographics,
and the ascendancy of suburbanism
challenge scholars and policy
makers with diverse expertise.
Communication scholars have much to
offer in the development of public policy
and law, which takes into account communication
needs, practices and culture.
References
Cohill, A. M. (2005, July). Broadband master
planning. Last Mile: Broadband Design and
Development. pp. 60-61.
Goldberger, P. (2001, February 1). Cities,
Place and Cyberspace. www.paulgold
berger.com/speeches.php?peech=berkeley.
Site visited May 30, 2005.
Rush, J.W. (2005, July). New Orleans:
Combining sewer repair with telecommunication
construction. Last Mile:
Broadband Design and Development. pp. 30-35.
UN Report: State of the World’s Cities Report
2004/5 Globalization and World Culture.
(2004). http://www.unhabitat.org/media
centre/sowckit.asp. Site visited July 14, 2005.
Wireless Philadelphia Mission Statement.
(2005). http://www.phila.gov/wireless/.
Site visited October 1, 2005.
World Charter on the Right to the City –
Proposal. (2004). http://www.cohre.org/
library/World-Charter-on-the-Right-tothe-City-October-04.doc.
Site visited
July 14, 2005.