Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook Society provides grassroots leadership and an inclusive process, with a voice for all community members, to ensure that our community grows and develops in a way that incorporates an environmental ethic, offers a range of housing and transportation choices, encourages a vibrant and cultural life and supports sustainable, meaningful employment and business opportunities.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

The Tyee 's Idea Number 9


Idea #9: Smartphones: The New Automobile
Cars made cities sprawling and impersonal, but that handheld gadget will change them again. Ninth in a series.

Smartphones are changing how businesses reach out to consumers. This is beginning to affect the physical shape of the cities we live in. Need proof? Take a look around your city.
These days, owning a smartphone is increasingly becoming an expectation. A recent study by J.D. Power and Associates shows that 54 per cent of wireless customers in Canada use smartphones, a market share that continues to grow. Logging on to the Internet anywhere, anytime, has never been easier.
The implications of this reach far and wide. The advent of the automobile resulted in sprawling cities and big box stores. Smartphone users, too, enjoy unparalleled freedom and connectivity. But they demand much less physical infrastructure. Quite the opposite: the rise of the smartphone is making cities more dense and accessible. Here are some examples:


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