Places for digital ecosystems, digital ecosystems in places

The relationships between the concepts of "cyberspace" and "digital ecosystem" are presented based on a four-dimensional approach to the concepts of space and place. We contend that "cyberspace" is a spatial metaphor for the familiar places in the digital environment; and we argue that a "digital ecosystem" is neither a synonym for cyberspace nor an abstraction of certain features of digital environments in general. Rather, "cyberspace" and "digital ecosystem" are overlapping and mutually complementary concepts. This complementary relationship leads to an intertwining of their definitions and points to communicative, cooperative and compatible principles for the design of interactive systems that are practically operationalized in the dimension of shape, structure, context, and experience.