- DIFFERENT FABRICS ''SHRINK'' IN DIFFERENT MANNERS   17 kb by    Floriani, Hector & Martínez de San Vicente, Isabel & null, null | hflorian@farq.unr.edu.ar    Short Outline DIFFERENT FABRICS “SHRINK” IN DIFFERENT MANNERS H. Floriani, I. Martínez de San Vicente (*) This case study presents some findings related to the phenomenon of the “loss of concentration” as it appears in metropolitan Rosario (Santa Fe Province, Argentina). There are two reasons that may make this case study interesting for Congress participants. On the one hand, the paper will present some verifications of the said phenomenon in a particular situation, which could render a contribution for a global knowledge of the loss of concentration. On the other hand, since the paper deals with the phenomenon as it is seen in a country that is in a intermediate level of development, we hope to be able to verify to what extent the loss of concentration can / must be understood as dependant upon the stage of socio-economic organization reached by that specific community. Some evidence shows that loss of concentration in our environment is affected by the following three factors:  “Cyberspace” created, or enhanced, by the development of communication technologies  Increase in the motorization rate of local population  Globalisation in consumption patterns It is not easy to distinguish each factor’s contribution to the manifestation of the phenomenon, since all three act in an interrelated way on space organization. It is possible, instead, to identify the evidence of the three factors’ presence and characterize them with a certain precision. The paper will present such evidence and will try to identify the specific meaning that the “loss of concentration” has in this physical and cultural context. That evidence will be related to those sectors of activity in which the loss of concentration is more evident, which are: services (particularly commerce and banking), residence, and –in a lesser degree- industry. The paper will also show that the very inter-play of those three factors in the determination of the phenomenon appears as a key for the identification of the specific way in which it appears in our context. In other words, the fact that cyberspace’s contribution to de-concentration appears in our environment accompanied –and, consequently, mitigated- by motorization and globalisation of consumption patterns gives some particular “colour” to the phenomenon, and at the same time expresses the stage of development that has been reached by this society. In this way, the paper will make a contribution to a better understanding of the different shades that the loss of concentration may take in different contexts. Besides, the paper will try to identify the main challenges the planner must face in the attempt to manage the loss of concentration in human settlements. Particularly, it will point out to a paradox that can be found in contemporary professional practice: that is, the co-existence of an increased capacity for the analysis and the knowledge of the object of planning with an increasing consciousness about the limitations in the capabilities to operate on that object, as a consequence of the ever greater complexity of the relations between space and society. The authors of this work are responsible for a research project financed by the National Research Council and the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology (Argentina). This project is aimed at setting an “urban observatory” for metropolitan Rosario. In the execution of this project the authors have been able to identify the main transformations that are taking place in this micro-region. Among them, the loss of concentration is indeed a present phenomenon. We propose Parallel Section 3: Cyberspace and the Loss of Concentration for our presentation. (*) The work team in charge of the research project upon which this paper is based is formed by: H.Floriani and I.Martínez de San Vicente (directors), N.Domínguez, M.C.Tamburrini, A.Rodera (researchers). Abstract This paper presents some findings related to the phenomenon of the ''loss of concentration'' as it appears in the metropolitan area of Rosario (Santa Fe Province, Argentina) . Keywords - Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2001: Honey, I Shrunk the Space   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper