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In Digital Places, Tom Horan argues that cities can be both "wired" and livable and that electronic technology can be used to create gratifying digital places that will attract both people and businesses.

In the opening chapter Horan establishes a framework for understanding how digital places can be created at the setting, community, and regional levels. He explains how the changing nature of where and what we do affects design, the importance of integrating new designs with the traditional uses of places, and how a range of users can be involved in the process of creating digital place designs.

Drawing on practical examples, Horan illustrates how electronic technology is affecting the bricks and mortar of the places where we live and work. He reviews several innovative home, work, and retail designs and offers specific advice on designing for multiple and changing uses.

At the community level, Horan examines new library, school, and community center developments, highlighting the key role they play in driving new forms of public spaces and networks.

Next, the author focuses on the impact of several high-profile silicon "valleys, alleys, hills, and fields" on cities and regions. He identifies the hard and soft infrastructure necessary to attract high-wage technology companies, while limiting sprawl and its negative effects.

Based on lessons learned over the past few years, the final chapter offers a blueprint for digital place planning. Horan identifies the roles that the public and private sectors can play in incorporating digital technology into design and creating their own "city of bits."

Using concrete, practical examples and illustrations, Horan describes how to guide the incorporation of electronic technology to develop the thriving places of tomorrow.

With a foreword by William J. Mitchell, dean of the school of Architecture and Planning at MIT and author of the 1996 publication City of Bits, this book expands upon Mitchell's concept of recombinant architecture by describing how digital technology can be "spliced" into the recomposition of our homes, offices, communities, and cities to achieve optimal forms of space and place.