Why do people cluster together in towns and cities? Why don't they settle over the surface of the earth according to the availability of natural resources? Studying this problem of human organization, Professor Meier employs information theory concepts to point out the intimate relationship between urban growth and increased capacity for communication.
Cities arose because there was an advantage in living close to centers of information exchange and din places where most transactions were easier to complete. But if an increase in communications rate is a prerequisite of urban growth, overloading of channels of communication creates urban distress and disorganization. Current trends in communication rates indicate that cities face some unprecedented crises of this kind in the near future. The modern city must conserve its information channels if it is to remain viable.
Communications congestion is quite different from traffic congestion. The author examines in detail the saturation of communication channels as one factor limiting urban growth, and discusses regulatory taxation as one appropriate remedy for congestion.
This book is noteworthy for its remarkable range and its novel approach. It is an "interim report" on a new kind of investigation - a first analysis of a cluster of problems that are rapidly approaching critically as our cities burgeon and our communications technology accelerates.
