The space of flows is a high-level cultural abstraction of

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...

and

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

, and their dynamic interactions with digital age society. The concept was created by the sociologist and cybernetic culture theoretician

Manuel Castells Manuel Castells Oliván (; ; born 9 February 1942) is a Spanish sociologist. He is well known for his authorship of a trilogy of works, entitled The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. He is a scholar of the information society, co ...

to "reconceptualize new forms of spatial arrangements under the new technological paradigm"; a new type of space that allows distant synchronous, real-time interaction.Castells, Manuel. "An Introduction to the Information Age" in ''The Information Society Reader'', Frank Webster, Raimo Blom, Erkki Karvonen, Harri Melin,

Kaarle Nordenstreng Kaarle Tapani Jorma Johannes Magnus Bertel Nordenstreng (born June 9, 1941) is a Finnish sociologist and media scholar.

, and Ensio Puoskari, editors. London and New York: Routledge, 2004. pp 138–49. The space of flows first was mentioned in ''The Informational City: Information Technology, Economic Restructuring, and the Urban Regional Process'' (1989).

Definitions

Castells defines the concepts as follows: "The material arrangements that allow for simultaneity of social practices without territorial contiguity. It is not purely electronic space...It is made up first of all of a technological infrastructure of information systems, telecommunications, and transportation lines".

Theoretic

Traditionally, the concept of space is considered a passive entity, while time is considered a separate and active entity. Space should not be disconnected from time, because space is a dynamic entity related to time. Castells rejected the contention that space will disappear upon the creation of the global city, because space is "the material support of time-sharing social practices". Thus, the ''space of flows'' is "the material organization of time-sharing social practices that work through flows". In 2001, Castells wrote: "the space of flows ... links up distant locales around shared functions and meanings on the basis of electronic circuits and fast transportation corridors, while isolating and subduing the logic of experience embodied in the space of places".

Practical

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually cons ...

is the physical support of the way people live in

. ''Real world time'', the space-and-time to which people are accustomed, is the "space of places", which is unlike the "space of flows" because it lacks the three elements of (i) a proper flow medium, (ii) the proper items composing the flow traversing through it, and (iii) the organisational nodes through which these flows circulate.Stalder, Felix.
The Status of Objects in the Space of Flows
'. University of Toronto (2003). 13 February 2006. The space of flows concept comprehends human action and interaction occurring dynamically and at a distance—effected via telecommunications technology containing continuous flows of time-sensitive communications, and the nodes of global computer systems. These informational flows connect people to a continuous, real-time

cybernetic Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...

community that differs from the

global village Global village describes the phenomenon of the entire world becoming more interconnected as the result of the propagation of media technologies throughout the world. The term was coined by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan in his books ' ...

because the groups' positions in time become more important than their places.

References

{{Reflist Social concepts Information society