This issuepaper is introduced by a short sketch of the trends in contemporary urban growth. ICT supports the transformations of the urban today into a network structure ("network city"). Within this so-called "network city" we can observe both parallel contradictory tendencies of concentration and deconcentration of urban functions.

With the expansion of the freedom of choice of location, enabled by ICT, the significance of location for individuals and enterprises does not disappear but is increased. Quality and identity of a place as well as density of connections (transport and communication infrastructure) are very important assets for the attractivity of locations.

Information/communication networks and media spaces absorb functions from the urban organism (teleshopping, teleworking, television, etc.). Still, the urban does not dissolve; the city will not disappear. "Real" space will change in character, its very specific qualities as an environment for direct physical encounter and experience, as a generator of (intuitive) trust needed for social cohesion, becoming more pronounced.

More interesting than the competition between the urban as such and the information/communication networks are their combinations: the whole new series of so-called "hybrid" (combined analog-digital, combined urban and media) networks and spaces emerging, ranging from the networked house to the "hybrid" (media and urban) spaces of the event economy.

The developments in ICT are mainly driven by market forces. To counterbalance the privatisation of spaces of social interaction, urban/regional planning, with its tradition of public concern, should work on the development of public "hybrid" ("real" and media) networks and spaces.

Within these new landscapes of "hybrid" ("real" and media) networks, traditional categories for analysing the urban are becoming obsolete. A new field of planning and design that combines urbanism and architecture with information/communication networks and media spaces is emerging. New categories for researching and developing the new "hybrid" network city have to be formulated. 'Idensity(tm)' is proposed in this context as such a new approach to the contemporary "hybrid" network city.

New strategies and instruments to process the ongoing transformations of today's network city, to process the unplannable, have to be developed. ICT offers a broad range of tools not only for processing but also for communicating planning issues. The emergence of these information/communication spaces for planning issues will strongly affect the planning process by enabling and supporting public involvement. Planning will be exteriorised; citizens and (urban) interest groups will have a stronger influence on the decision process.

Public media event spaces and public "hybrid" (media and urban) interfaces are proposed as an infrastructure for urban/regional planning, for developing communal visions of our worlds. These communication spaces for urban issues could develop into very important forums for the mediatised, regionalised and globalised politics of the future.