Chapter 36: Activities in Space and Time

Human lives consist of activities such as working, raising families, socializing, shopping, and recreation. These activities require time and space, and are often only available at particular locations for limited durations. People differ with respect to the location and timing of key activities in their lives (e.g. home, work) as well as available time and transportation and communication resources to conduct these activities.

Cities, transportation, and communications systems exist to alter space and time. A city compresses many human lives into a relatively small space to reduce time and other resources required for humans to interact and conduct shared activities. Transportation systems reduce the amount of time required for movement across space. Communication technologies eliminate space for some types of interaction. In turn, cities, transportation, and telecommunications systems shape human activities by altering the relationships between space and time in human interaction and activity participation.