Digital Infrastructure and Physical Proximity
A. Torre & F. Wallet (Eds.), Regional Development and Proximity Relations, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, Forthcoming
32 Pages Posted: 1 Apr 2012 Last revised: 30 Jun 2012
There are 2 versions of this paper
Digital Infrastructure and Physical Proximity
Digital Infrastructure and Physical Proximity
Date Written: April 1, 2012
Abstract
This paper studies the impact of physical proximity on the formation of the Internet infrastructure. Despite the anecdotal evidence on the ‘end of geography’ effect of the Internet and its a-spatial nature, the interplay between physical space and the Internet has not been yet studied and quantified in detail. This chapter uses an extensive dataset of European IP links to study: (a) the spatiality of the physical layer of the Internet infrastructure, known as cyber-place (CP); and (b) the impact of physical proximity on the formation of CP. While network analysis techniques are used to understand the former, gravity models based on panel data specifications are utilised to approach the second question. In addition, a more detailed example of the Dutch IP network is used to verify the pan-European results. The analysis reveals that Tobler’s First Law of Geography is valid in the CP. The intensity of IP connectivity is higher between neighboring regions indicating the role of physical distance in the formation of the CP. The novelty of this chapter lies not only in the spatial perspective adopted in the analysis of the Internet infrastructure, but also in the effort to quantify these issues through an evidence-based modeling approach.
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