Today, telecommunication systems are expanding and evolving at a
remarkable rate, with the aid of fiber optics, satellites and comput-
erized switchboard systems. Airline systems are providing faster and
more efficient networks for world-wide human transportation. Com- puters
are now generally accessible to virtually all industries and many
households. But perhaps the most important factor is that education
systems are expanding the knowledge base for city populations, thus
resulting in increased efficiency in the use of computers, telecommuni-
cations and rapid transportation systems. The revolutionary age of
logistical networks is upon lIS. Logistical networks are those systems
which facilitate the movement of knowl- edge, commodities, money, and
people in association with thE; produc- tion or consumption of goods and
services. Logistical networks form a set of important infrastructure
which serve as hard and soft means to sustain all kinds of movement,
transactions and diffusion within and between global networks of cities.
Major structural changes in the re- gional and urban economy, culture
and institutions are triggered by slow but steady changes in global
logistical systems.