Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
3.4 THE DIGITAL
ECONOMY AND NEW
SPACES OF WORK
New Digital Economies, Cities
and the Global South
Recent transformations in the dispersal of information and communica-
tion technologies (ICTs) in the global South are closely tied to wider
processes of globalization, urbanization and power. According to recent
projections, 61 per cent of the world's population will be living in cities
by 2030, with cities in the South growing four to five times faster than
in the developed world. As economic, social and political life in the
twenty-first century will become increasingly digitized, cities will con-
tinue to act as sites of capital accumulation and centres of diffusion for
knowledge, technology and information (Lloyd-Evans and Potter,
2009). A key element of the global ICT business has been the develop-
ment of linkages between the world's cities and their importance as
nodes for flows of information, services, and finance (Sassen, 2002).
Transformations in the international commodification of digital prod-
ucts and services (Scholte, 2000) have shaped flows of information and
knowledge around the world, connecting some people and disconnecting
others (Castells, 2001).
Although the revolution in ICT has undoubtedly facilitated faster
and stronger networks between people and places, the outcomes of this
revolution are geographically uneven (Perrons, 2004). By providing a
critical discussion of the impact of the digital revolution in creating new
spaces of work and livelihood opportunities for communities in the glo-
bal South, the chapter explores the profound impact of ICT transitions
in addressing the development goals of the twenty-first century. As
previous chapters in this section have focused on the ways in which
shifts in the agricultural and industrial sectors of the economy have
