Television has become a guide to local life. Restaurant reviews £¬ shopping guides and even health tips have flooded the airwaves. But this is only the beginning of a trend towards greater access to information£¬ as China Daily reports.

The digital city is the future of this trend. To this end£¬ the government has vowed to advance informatization of the public administration and public facilities such as the water and electricity supplies and sewage treatment £¬ said Professor Lai Ming£¬ director of the science and technology department of the Ministry of Construction.

"Narrowly speaking£¬ the digital city means that informatization will be introduced to urban planning£¬ urban measuring£¬ real estate development£¬ construction administration and other public facilities£¬" Lai said at a conference held by the Ministry of Construction yesterday. The process will be finished in major Chinese cities in the next ten years.

A guide to the development of the digital city will be released by the ministry at a forum titled "China International Digital City Construction Conference£¬" to be held between September 18 and 21 in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.