The Digital Village Well

William Mitchell avoids describes some of the effects of the digital revolution may have on the way we construct our lives. He approaches the field from a geographers perspective and notes how the industrial revolution altered the forces which shaped how people chose to live together. Cities were no long surrounding a common resource, most notably a well, and the societies lost a degree of their common bonds. The pipes that bring information, like the pipes that brought water to a common, public area, have the ability to shape the layout of cities, and thus the communities that compose cities. On a macro level, Mitchell observes that the urban growth in northern India appears to be guided by satellite data downlinks provide local high bandwidth access.

On a more local community level, the source of information can be seen as a community resource, much like a village well. The well served not only to provide a specific resource, but an informal meeting place around which informal relationships could be forged between fellow users. Similarly, community members could come to a certain point, perhaps a CTC, to use IT resources, but like users of a common well, they can interact on other levels to develop other bonds, and create social capital. A well also helps define a community, one that is dependent on the well for a resource. This community then has an incentive for collective action to protect this resource, and this identity can expand to pave the way for other community-building behaviors.

Allan Friedman
January, 2002