Spatial small worlds: new geographic patterns for an information economy

Networks are structures that pervade many natural and manmade phenomena. Recent findings have characterized many networks as not random chaotic structures but as efficient complex formations. Current research has examined complex networks as largely a nonspatial phenomenon. Location, distance, and geography, though, are all vital aspects of a wide variety of networks. The authors examine the US portion of Internet infrastructure as a complex network and the role distance and geography play in its formation. From these findings implications are drawn on the economic, political, national security, and technological impacts of network formation and evolution in an information economy.