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If a city wants to be regarded as a world-class destination, it has to be connected and, preferably, wireless. That is the vision being put forward by leaders at Westminster City Council, which covers much of London's West End, and by the authorities in Bristol, south-west England's economic hub.

Development of a digital infrastructure is too important to be left to commercial interests alone, say council officials. In a manner redolent of how the Victorian civic visionaries laid out grand avenues, set out parks and dug new sewers and drainage, so today's urban planners are looking to wireless communications infrastructure to provide the impetus for urban renewal and economic development.

The Mobile Bristol project brings together the city, Bristol University, Hewlett-Packard (which has its main European R&D lab on the city's outskirts) and a range of local firms, from entertainment providers to the operator of harbour tours. A map of the city, compiled by the Mobile Bristol project, shows WiFi hotspots dotted around the waterfront and harbour area. The project also relies on location-based services using GPS satellite signals.

The team ran a trial this spring of a location-based radio play, which tells the story of civil unrest in Bristol in the 1830s. Listeners collect a handheld computer, headset and GPS receiver packaged into a backpack, and then wander around the square. GPS signals trigger an audio segment reflecting part of the story.

On harbour tours, visitors use a handheld computer linked to an on-vessel network to overlay the boat's location on to an aerial photograph of Bristol. An audio commentary loaded onto the Pocket PC points out sights to tourists, who can watch them as they sail by using the PDA as an aid.

A game called CityTag lets players roam the city looking for competitors, again using location-based technologies. This is not, as yet, a commercial proposition. But according to HP researcher Phil Stenton, it provides a valuable test bed for companies wanting to investigate ideas such as location-based advertising.

Such systems are still at an early stage: the equipment is too bulky and expensive for tourist agencies to issue to large numbers of visitors. But organisations from inward investment bodies to commercial estate agents could use similar techniques to introduce business prospects to a new area - for such a market, the cost of lending out handheld computers would be less of a barrier.

In Westminster, the city council is taking a more static approach, using wireless technologies internally to cut the cost of its infrastructure. One application is to use WiFi networking to connect CCTV surveillance cameras. Crime and anti-social behaviour deter businesses and investors, says Peter Rogers, chief executive of Westminster Council. Improving surveillance in busy areas such as Soho was a challenge, not least because of the infrastructure costs associated with conventional CCTV.

Not only are the cameras themselves linked over WiFi, but council staff can connect to the CCTV system from WiFi-equipped notebook computers. According to Rogers, running costs for the new system are 70% of those for conventional surveillance, and falling. And benefits, he maintains, also come from a more flexible workforce and better use of Westminster's property portfolio.

"The productivity gains are enormous," he says, "and we don't need to do this in prime real estate. We can carry out back office functions in cheaper locations, and so help with regeneration."

The issue of whether local authorities should invest in wireless infrastructure to 'pump prime' economies, or to spur private sector investment, is more vexed. This model has been adopted with some success in Scandinavia.

As it stands, though, local authorities in England and Wales cannot step in and become, say, wireless Internet service providers. This, Rogers says, would need legislative reform. But local councils are lobbying for greater freedoms, both in public and private, and working with business interests to press their case.