Like them or not, cell phones have become the modern standard for our expanding communication needs. According to an ABC News study there are now 100 million cell phone users worldwide, and in five years 84 percent of U.S. citizens will carry one.

The results from a March 2000 survey conducted by Wirthkin Worldwide for LetsTalk.com, an online retailer of cell phones and accessories, reported that the majority of people surveyed found that cell phones are a great convenience.

In contrast, only a small fraction of people reported that they felt cell phones to be disruptive and unnecessary.

Arguably, many of us are willing to adhere to de facto guidelines for cell phone etiquette in public spaces. However, with so many cell phone users, there are those who are not conscious of, or unconcerned that their behavior may be aggravating to others. Social boundaries and norms in public spaces are being stretched, tested, and, yes, redefined by our trusty cell phones.

As a society we are struggling to understand the implications of this rapidly expanding communication technology. Across the country and around the world, debates and discussions in various arenas have just barley begun to address the myriad issues associated with wireless technology. ?EUR??,,????'??Cell phone free zones?EUR??,,????'?? are becoming all the more common. The recent proliferation of signs in restaurants, libraries and movie theaters confirm this.

A few years ago, San Diego, Calif. declared Cell Phone Courtesy Week as part of a larger cell phone courtesy campaign. Promoting cell phone courtesy is one thing, but regulating courtesy is another. Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Oregon have all overridden or prohibited local jurisdictions from enacting laws banning and/or fining people for cell phone usage during indoor performances. Although some local jurisdictions have successfully enacted laws to curb use while driving, anytime minutes are actually everywhere minutes; movies, business meetings, restaurant meals, public restrooms, sidewalks and parks are all in legal bounds in these states.

In the previously mentioned March 2000 survey, 57 percent of people surveyed were in favor of legislation banning cell phones from classrooms, theaters and restaurants, while 3 percent of those surveyed were against the idea. Three percent of those surveyed were undecided.

So far, the cell phone courtesy debate has centered on issues relating to the impact to indoor spaces. What about the impact to our outdoor spaces? If, however, regulations do tighten for cell phone usage in public indoor spaces, how will they impact the social fabric of our outdoor spaces? Will outcast cell phone users be forced to huddle with smokers at the entrances to buildings? And will we see regulations for outdoor spaces? Is it appropriate to talk on a cell phone in a national park or on a wilderness trail if you have a signal?

A recent AP news article from April 2004 touched on the issue of cell phone use in national parks, places that many people count on to unplug from everyday distractions. The National Park Service has no set policy on how to strike a balance between providing for visitor safety, protecting the park and visitor experience. Interestingly, there are cell phone towers in many national parks. Yellowstone National Park has five towers.

Another news article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from April 2004 examined the issue of cell phone use in the wilderness areas of the Washington Cascades. The article quoted annoyed hikers and backpackers whose quiet and solitude were shattered by cell phone conversations in remote areas. According to some of the hikers interviewed, a typical booming one-sided cell phone conversation has no place in the wilderness. One forest official suggested that cell phone users should go behind a tree, similar to what one would politely do while taking a bathroom break.

Our dependence on cell phones has changed the fabric of small urban spaces, sidewalks, parks and hiking trails. Besides the debatable annoyance of booming one-sided conversations, cell phone users are sometimes guilty of erratic and unconforming behavior and movement patterns.

Most people exhibit different behaviors when they are alone, or with a partner, or with a group. Many public behaviors in the landscape are fairly predictable. For example, we can expect laughing and several voices speaking at once emanating from a typical group in a park space. When we walk past two people on a park bench we can expect to overhear dialogue. Before cell phones, we could expect a single person in the landscape walking, running, sitting quietly, reading, eating lunch or perhaps taking time to say hello. It is generally unusual to hear people talking to themselves on a bench or while walking by. The cell phone seems to afford group behavioral and conversational patterns to individual people in the landscape. This is a major change from just a few short years ago.

The social connection one may feel to the person on the other end of a cell phone may provide an artificial grounding to a space that may not offer a traditional cue or opportunity physically in the landscape. And, conversely, many cell phone users seem to lose consciousness of their surroundings and activities as attention is shifted to the details of conversation.

A bench or a seat wall is a physical invitation to stop and sit. But with a cell phone in hand one may choose to lean against a light fixture, railing or a tree and talk away. One may feel compelled to take ownership of an area in the middle of the sidewalk where an incoming call was first answered. The behavior of cell phone users can be very confusing.

Hands-free users can make interpreting behavior even more difficult since the visual cue of a phone pressed to one?EUR??,,????'???s ear is altogether absent. I?EUR??,,????'???ve responded to a few hands-free users recently because I thought they were talking to me. Every day the list of things people do in public while talking on a cell phone is interestingly expanded.

Landscape architects have learned much from William H. Whyte?EUR??,,????'???s seminal work, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Perhaps the time has come to study in detail the behavior of the cell phone user in urban spaces. How can landscape architect?EUR??,,????'???s future designs balance the need for people to talk on cell phones with the need for other people to take refuge from technology in the landscape? Would it be appropriate to designate ?EUR??,,????'??cell phone free areas?EUR??,,????'?? for outdoor spaces similar to some indoor spaces?

Society?EUR??,,????'???s view and interpretation of cell phone technology has yet to catch up with its rapid advancement and proliferation. Yes, the cell phone debate mainly centers on indoor spaces and issues of etiquette, but spatial issues in the landscape are prominent as well. Landscape architects have the opportunity to contribute their expertise to these considerations and help physically interpret society?EUR??,,????'???s expectations for the use of new technologies in public spaces.

Alex Schwartz observed and noted the following behaviors by cell phone users during lunchtime walks around town:

• Walking in small circles in the middle of a busy walkway or entry, unaware of other pedestrians trying to pass.
• Standing still in the middle of a busy walkway or entry unaware of pedestrians trying to navigate around them.
• Pacing back and forth in an area (around a object like a bench or in front of a busy doorway).
• Standing in places, perhaps not previously considered for static inhabitation, such as next to garbage cans, newspaper machines, telephone poles and tree trunks.
• People standing or slightly moving in a wide-open space like the middle of a park lawn.