Geography - Lone Star

Some Reputable News Outlets

2008-01-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/

BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/

Chicago Sun Times
http://www.suntimes.com/index.html

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/

Discovery Channel News
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/news.html

Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/

LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/

Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/

National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/index.html

National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/

NBC and MSNBC
http://www.nbc.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/

The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/

The Scotsman
http://www.scotsman.com/

The Times of London
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/global/

1303 World Geography Place holder

2007-02-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

Place holder for his class.

1300 Place Holder

2007-01-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

This is a place holder for the 1300 Geography Class

1300 Chapter 13 - The Area Tradition

2006-09-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

The Region

An area of the earth that displays a distinctive grouping or physical or cultural phenomena
An area that is functionally united as a single organizational unit
Used to divide the world into smaller, more easily understood pieces

Regional Concept

Physical and cultural phenomena are arranged by complex but comprehensible spatial processes

Characteristics of Regions

Location

Generally a relative location

Spatial Extent

Exist within a definable geographic space

Boundaries

The edge of the defined traits of the selected region
May be zones of transition or precise, linear separations
Tend to be subjective and even arbitrary

Formal Regions

Areas of essential uniformity in one or a limited combination of features
The largest area over which a valid generalization may be made
Climate and Culture zones

Functional Regions

Areas defined by dynamic interactions and connections
Areas tend to be subject to rapid and constant change and modification

Hierarchically Arranged

Large regions are composed of smaller regions
“Super-regions” may be called Realms

Perceptual/Popular/Vernacular Regions

Define a Sense of Place
Composites of mental maps of people – individuals and groups

Regions in Physical Geography

Landform Regions

Tend to be more sharply defined and agreed upon
Tend to be based upon visible features and changes in the landscape
Tend to be durable and long-lasting/constant

Weather and Climate

Considered an example of a Multifactor Formal Region
Tend to be dynamic and cyclical

Natural Resource Regions

Tend to be sub-surface features

Three dimensional regions

Tend to be similar to landform regions

Heavily subject to human use and modification

Can become complex Multifactor Functional Regions

Advances in technology
Depletion
Replacement

Regions in the Culture-Environment Tradition

Creates regions defined by the myriad of human cultural variation and land-use
Tend to be dynamic and subjective
Population

One of the more basic forms of geographic study
Uses transportation patterns, climate, landforms, political divisions, technological expertise, urbanization, etc…

Language

Can be small or large area, single factor regions

Cognitive or Mental

Tend to be much less precise and formalized
Personal views of regions and regionalization
Individual Activity Areas

Political

Tend to be rigidly defined and carefully surveyed
May be marked on the physical landscape
Subject to change, negotiation, and dispute

Relic boundaries

Regions of the Location Tradition

Focuses more on the interactions of the cultural landscape
Tend to be Multifactor Functional Regions
Economic

Looks at interaction between people, resources, and culture
Looks at change and trends

Urban

Urban Geography and urbanization

Ecosystems

Systems Analysis

Studies the organization, structure, and functional dynamics of an area
Quantifies the interrelations and interactions between segments

Human impact on the landscape and environment

1300 Chapter 12 - Human Impact

2006-09-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ecology

The study of how organisms interact with one another and their environment
Human construction of the Cultural Environment

Began with the earliest hunter-gatherers

Burning of areas
Planting beneficial plants
Modifying the landscape

Took off with Agriculture
Furthered with urbanization

Biosphere

The earth and the atmosphere in which we live.
Composed of three interrelated parts

Troposphere – lowest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere
Hydrosphere – surface and subsurface waters
Lithosphere/Earth’s Crust – the upper few thousand feet

Functions with two interrelated components

Outside energy source – the Sun
Living world of plants and animals

Ecosystems

Self-sustaining units of the Biosphere which consist of all the organisms and physical features existing together in a particular area.
Everything is interconnected

Modification of one niche affects every other niche

Food Chain

A sequence of organisms through which energy and materials move within an ecosystem

Environmental Pollution

Introduction into the biosphere of wastes that cannot be readily disposed of by natural recycling processes.
Point Sources

Pollution enters from a specific site

Non-point Sources

Pollution is expelled from a more diffuse and widespread source

Impact on Water

Hydrologic Cycle

The system through which water cycles though the biosphere
Cycle tends to purify the water

Availability of Water

Regional variation as to access to water and reliability of water resources

Rain and snow fall
Rivers and lakes
Subsurface aquifer

Size of Population dependent upon water

Personal use and agricultural use
70-90% of water use if for agriculture

Scarcity

Increasingly used to discuss available water resources for humans and agriculture

Water Deficit

Consuming more water than your annual renewable supply
Generally associated with groundwater aquifers
Texas – operates a major water deficit

Desalination

Cleansing of sea water of salts and minerals for use by humans
Expensive and inefficient

Modification of Streams

Prevent flooding, regulate supply, generate power
Channelization

Construction of embankments and dikes
Straightening, widening, and deepening of channels
Decrease of wetlands and species

Dam Construction

Artificial impediment to water flow
Water storage for individual use and irrigation
Prevent flooding

Canals
Reservoirs

Water Quality

Agriculture is the chief cause of water pollution

Agricultural Sources of Water Pollution

Fertilizers

Nitrates and phosphates from manure and artificial fertilizers
Eutrophication – enrichment of waters by nutrients
Accelerated Eutrophication – from fertilizers

Stimulates growth of algae and other plants
Blocks sunlight and oxygen

Creation of Dead Zones in the oceans

Biocides

Herbicides and pesticides
DDT
Long term presence in the environment
Unknown long term affects of even small amounts in humans and animals

Animal Wastes

Spreading of manure on farmland and from contamination from waste pools.
Dead zones in oceans
Contamination of food products with animal waste

Industrial Sources of Water Pollution

Equal to agriculture in industrialized nations
Acids, toxic minerals and organic chemicals, radiation

Mercury – from power plants
PCBs – found throughout the manufacturing and industrial process
Plastics

Petroleum Industry

Toxic organic chemicals
Direct release of oil into the environment

Acid Rain

Power plants

Thermal Pollution

Discharge of heated water into the environment

Mining

For coal and other minerals
Contamination of groundwater and surface water

Cyanide and mercury for gold mining
Strip mining and mountaintop mining

Municipalities and Residences

Uses of chemicals
Storage tanks
Waste sewage
Storm water runoff

Impact on Air and Climate

Air Pollutants

Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, particulates, sulfur oxides

Factors Affecting Air Pollution

Temperature inversions

Stationary layer of warm air above cooler air
Air does not move and pollutants accumulate

air currents

move pollutants from their source to downwind areas

levels of urbanization and industrialization

High population and transportation densities increase pollution
Types and locations of industry
Agricultural practices – field burning

Acid Rain (Precipitation)

Sulfuric and Nitric Acid
Produced by burning fossil fuels

Vehicles, industries, power plants, metal smelting

Carried hundreds of kilometers by air currents
Increases the acidity of the area where it falls
Terrestrial Effects

Acidifies soil
Coats soil with toxic metals
Kills microorganisms and plants

Aquatic Effects

Kills microorganisms, plants, and insects
Interferes with fish reproduction and feeding

Material Effects

Damage to buildings and monuments

Photochemical Smog

Nitrogen oxides – Ozone
Assisted by hot and sunny weather
Generally an urban problem
Causes lung damage and ailments

Significant increases in asthma in children

Damage to plants

Depletion of Ozone Layer

Forms blanket in upper atmosphere
Protects earth from solar radiation
Can be destroyed by a variety of industrial chemicals
Ozone depletion over entire earth

Hole over the Antarctic

Increases in skin cancers in humans
Destruction of oceanic algae
Damage to other plant life

Controlling Air Pollution

Montreal Protocol of 1987

To reduce and eliminate CFC’s
Still a problem in developing nations

1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution

33 countries in Europe and the Americas
To reduce Acid Rain and Smog and Ozone

U.S. Clean Air Acts (1963, 1965, 1970, 1977, 1990)

Reduce urban smog by limiting allowable levels of particulates and ozone
Promote cleaner burning fuels
Lower emissions from vehicles
Reducing acid rain causing emissions from power plants

Strategies

Improved technologies for fossil fuel usage
Reduce energy consumption
Reduce emissions from motor vehicles

Impact on Landforms

Excavation (tell story about silver city bars, closing time, dogs…)

Surface/Open Pit Mining
Strip Mining/Montaintop Removal
Pits, ponds, canals, reservoirs, etc.

Dumping

Mining – spoil heaps/slag heaps
Agriculture
Dredging and dikes

Surface Depressions

Subsidence

From removal of liquids

Sinkholes and pits

From removal of solids

Impact on Plants and Animals

Endangered Species

Immediate jeopardy of becoming extinct in the wild

Vulnerable Species

Decreasing population – likely to be come extinct

Threatened Species

Refer to both endangered and vulnerable species

Extinction

Species no longer exists

Habitat Disruption

Main threat to species
Agriculture, mining, logging, urbanization

Hunting and Commercial Exploitation

Ivory, trophies, medicinal, sport
Over fishing

Exotic Species

No native predators
Out-compete and replace native species
Killer/Africanized Bees, Gypsy Moth, Tiger Mosquito, Zebra Mussels, Sparrows, Honey Bees

Poisoning and Contamination

Biological Magnification – the accumulation of poisons in an organism and its concentration at higher levels in the food chain.
Highest levels in the top predators
Increasing resistance to chemicals

Antibiotics
Biocides

Solid-Waste Disposal

Municipal Waste

Mainly domestic waste with some commercial
Affluence

Disposable society
Americans worst at waste

Packaging

For all of the disposable waste

Open Space

Does not force recycling and reduction

Hazardous Waste

Poses threat to human health and/or the environment
Household chemicals
Electronic devices

Landfills

71% of all U.S. Municipal Waste goes into landfills
Great threat of groundwater contamination

Incineration

Burn it
Emissions contain many pollutants

Toxins, heavy metals, sulfides, etc…

More favored in Japan and Europe

Source Reduction and Recycling

Producing less waste
Reduce weigh of packaging
Concentrate materials
Recovery and reprocessing of used materials

Requires lower cost to recycle than discard
Impoverished work forces in 3^rd World Countries

Hazardous Waste

More than 400 substances classified as hazardous by EPA
Categories of Hazardous Waste

Ignitable wastes – catches fire easily
Corrosive wastes – acids or bases which will corrode metal containers
Reactive wastes – unstable and can cause explosions, toxic fumes, gases, or vapors when heated, compressed, or mixed with water.
Toxic waste – chemical or metal toxins

Low-level waste

Decays in less than 100 years
Commonly found in landfills
Major threat to groundwater and health

High-level waste

Can remain radioactive for over 10,000 years
Civilian and military nuclear programs

Disposal of hazardous waste

Buried sealed containers
Dumping at sea
Exporting to other countries

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976)

Early regulation on hazardous waste
Track waste from entrance through disposal

Superfund Site

1240 sites +/-

1300 Chapter 11 - Urban Geography

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Origin and evolution of cities

Settled hunter-gatherers and early agriculturalists
Agriculture

Agriculture requires year-round activities
Agriculture provides a surplus of food
Settled lifestyles and grains reduce infant mortality

Emerging Political elite and power

Military
Religious
Based on control of surplus
Hydraulic Civilization Theory

Control of irrigation

Control of city and hinterland

Areas easy to defend or with materials to construct defences
Areas with access to transportation

Coastal
Rivers

Development of a complex economy

Increased numbers of specialists
Merchants (incipient middle class)

Development of new agricultural practices and technology

Larger surpluses
Fewer farmers needed
Increased urbanization

Industrial Revolution

Agricultural technology
Jobs in cities

Location of Urban Areas

Dependent upon efficiency

Centrality
Location relative to resources
Transportation network

Site

Absolute location

Situation

Relative location

Break-of-Bulk Points

Location along a trade route where goods must be transferred from one carrier to another
Ports, river crossings and head of navigation, borders, transportation hubs, etc…

Economic Base

Basic Sector

Population producing goods and services for regions surrounding or outside of the urban area
Bring money from the periphery/hinterlands into the urban area

Non-basic Sector

Population producing goods and services for the urban area itself
Redistribute urban wealth
Numbers grow faster than basic personnel

Overlap between sectors
Produces a Multiplier Effect

The more people involved in the basic sector the more people arrive to provide for non-basic needs

Urban Classifications

Manufacturing
Retailing
Wholesaling
Transportation
Government

Functions of Cities

Cities generally have multiple functions
Many cities specialize in one or more functions
Functions

Central Place
Transport center
Special functions

Central Markets

Central Place Theory (see below)

Urban Influence Zones

The size of the area affected/controlled/influenced by one urban area and not another
Dependent upon distance from the urban area

Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller – 1933)

Explains size and location of urban areas
Concepts and assumptions

Towns would develop to provide basic services for agricultural areas
Agricultural population dispersed in an even pattern
People would possess similar needs, wants, and income
Each product or service requires a “threshold” number of people before it develops in an urban area
Consumers go to the nearest location for goods and services

Results

Landscape can be divided up into hexagonal market areas
A central place will be located at the center of each market area
The size of the central place and its market area will be proportional to the goods and services offered at that central place

Further Results

Towns of similar size are generally evenly spaced across the landscape
Larger towns are placed farther apart than smaller ones

More small towns than large ones

Spacing of towns is interdependent

Removal or placement of a town requires entire system to readjust

The higher the threshold for a good or service the farther (on average) the consumer must travel to get it.

Centers of Production and Services

Cities form around and attract industry
Population engaged in manufacturing/industry attracts service people
Service population can overtake manufacturing in importance
Post-Industrial society

Centers of Administration and Institutions

Urban areas as places from which control is exercised upon the hinterland

Administration as a non-basic service
Federal, state, metropolitan, and local governments

Education Sector

Primary, secondary, post-secondary, technical, professional

Health Care Sector
Entertainment Sector

Urban Hierarchy

Ranking of urban areas

Size
Functional complexity

Rank-Size Relationship

Useful for regions with a long history of urbanization and complex economies
Size of the city is determined by its relationship with the largest city

Nth largest city will be 1/n the size of the largest city

i.e. the 2^nd largest city will be ½ the size of the largest city

Less applicable to developing nations or those with Primate Cities

Primate City

A city which is far more than twice the size of any second ranked urban areas or with no second ranked cities
Developed in Europe during the early industrial period

Slowly changing in some nations

Common as a colonial legacy

World Cities

Large urban centers
Control points for international production, marketing, and finance

London
New York
Tokyo

Inside the City

Urban Area

U.S. Census Bureau definition requires a population of greater than 2500 people
Greece it means over 10,000 people in a metropolitan area

City

A multifunctional, nucleated settlement with a central business district and both residential and non-residential land uses.
Determinations of “city” status depend upon local and national laws and traditions

Population
Mayors or city managers
Letters of patent
Presence of a cathedral

Town

A nucleated settlement that contains a central business district but that is smaller and less functionally complex than a city
In Britain it meant a fortified settlement

Suburb

Subsidiary area, a functionally specialized segment of a larger urban complex, dependent upon a larger urban area
May develop into independent urban areas over time
Generally an American creation

Urbanized Area

A continuously built-up landscape defined by buildings and population densities with no reference to political boundaries
May contain a central city, suburbs, surrounding towns, etc…
Houston and Harris County

Metropolitan Area

Large scale, functional entity
May contain several urbanized areas but operates as an integrated economic whole

Central Business District (CBD)

The center of a city/urban area where economic business and cultural activities are focused.
Within and surrounded by areas of high land value.
High population densities and high accessibility

Outside the CBD

Land Uses

Residential Areas

High, middle, and lower class areas

Light manufacturing and wholesale industries
Heavy manufacturing
Industrial areas

Land value and population density decrease as one moves away from the CBD

Models of Urban Form

Concentric Zone Model

Ernest Burgess – 1920’s
Five Zones radiating outward from the CBD

CBD
Zone of Transition

Stagnation, high-density, low-income slums and ghettoes

Low-class/working-class residential

Smaller, older homes on smaller lots

Middle-class residential
Upper-class residential

Apply mainly to Chicago (where research was conducted)
Does not apply to non-North American cities

Sector Model

Homer Hoyt – 1930’s
Urban areas grow along wedge-shaped sectors
Focused on transportation arteries
High-income housing focuses on access to transportation routes

Surrounded by middle-class residential areas
Low-income residential areas on outskirts

Near to industrial areas

Industrial areas focused on transportation lines as well
Dynamic model
Based on North American cities

Chicago and Calgary

Application mainly to North and South American Cities

Multiple-Nuclei Model

Chauncy D. Harris and Edward L. Ullman – 1945
Counters the CBD growth models
Cities grow from by spreading from several connected nodes of growth
Peripheral expansion lead to eventual coalescence along lines of juncture
Developed in Los Angeles

Peripheral Model

Attempt to model changes in North American urban areas since 1945

Development of suburbia

Supplements the previous models
Focuses on the periphery of the city instead of the CBD
Functions are determined by their relationships with other periphery functions and not the CBD

Changes in Urban Forms – Primarily in North American Cities

Automobile

Freeway system
Replaced mass transit
Allowed massive spatial expansion of urban areas

Interstate Highway System

Expanded urban areas/commuting zones out 20 to 30 miles
50 to 60 miles in Houston

Rise in individual home ownership

Revolution in mortgage practices by the Federal Government
Own free-standing home in suburbs instead of renting within the city

Decreased work week

More time at home
More time to commute

Suburbanization

Uniform but spatially discontinuous housing developments beyond the boundaries of the older, central cities
Unfocused sprawl since they were not tied to mass-transit routes

Automobile

Began in late 1940’s to early 1950’s
Slowed during the 1970’s and resumed again in the 1980’s

Affected by fuel prices

Development of the Shopping Mall to provide services to suburban communities
Relocation of industry to suburban locations

Follow workforce
Use of roads meant less dependence upon rail and water transportation

Flexible truck transportation

Service industries follow Base Sector

Edge Cities (Joel Garreau)

Development of Suburbs into smaller, independent urban areas surrounding the old city and CBD.
It must have more than five million square feet (465,000 m²) of office space. This is enough to house between 20,000 and 50,000 office workers, as many as some traditional downtowns.
It must have more than 600,000 square feet (56,000 m²) of retail space, the size of a medium shopping mall. This ensures that the edge city is a center of recreation and commerce as well as office work.
It must be characterized by more jobs than bedrooms.
It must be perceived by the population as one place.
It must have been nothing like a city in 1960.

Houston Edge Cities

The FM 1960 Area
Kingwood
Sugar Land
The Woodlands
Uptown Houston/The Galleria
Clear Lake City
Greenway Plaza
Westchase
Greenspoint
Sharpstown

Megalopolis

A continuously built-up region with many new centers that compete with the old CBDs.
Boston to Washington D.C. along the eastern seaboard
Tokyo

Decline of the Central City

Rise of the Edge Cities and highways

Wealthier and better educated moved to suburbs
Poor remained within the central cities

Loss of revenue from taxes
Loss of job opportunities
Federal Housing Acts

Beginning in the 1940’s

Low income war housing and slum clearance
Initially effective and well designed

Late 1950’s – massive experiments with social engineering
Massive slums

Urban Decay

Renewal and Gentrification

Cities have centralized telecommunications links and access
Access to skilled labor necessary for a Post-Industrial society
Gentrification

The rehabilitation of housing in deteriorated city areas by middle and upper income groups
Tension between poor residents and incoming renovators

Attractions of short commutes and non-homogenized lives
Sports and convention facilities
Smart Growth Programs

Restrict urban sprawl
Preserve green zones
Development of brown and grey fields

Former industrial areas

Social Areas of Cities

People tend to cluster in areas with people of similar family and social status, and ethnicity
Family Status

As distance from CBD increases

Average age of head-of-household declines
Size of family increases

Poverty and Gender in U.S. Cities

Central cities have more households headed by women than men
Women constitute the majority of poor individuals
The majority of the poor live in central cities
Women and the poor depend more upon public transportation
Minorities are more likely to use public transportation than whites

Social Status

Determined by income, education, occupation, and home value
Low density residence indicates higher status
Rise of gated communities to control access to areas to accepted social status

Ethnicity

Many times minority ethnic groups tend to cluster together
Ethnicity tends to follow the patterns of family and social status

Urban Institutional Controls

Non-market controls by local and national governments to control use of land

Zoning Ordinances
Building, Health, and Safety Codes

Designed to minimize incompatibilities
Provide appropriate locations for public and private land use
Many times used to exclude “undesirable” uses and people

Western European Cities

Classic examples of Primate Cities
Compact Form

Occupy less land area

Focus on apartments and high residential density
Lower skyline

Historical structures of stone

Pedestrian oriented
Well developed network of public transportation

Both within and between cities

Historical Connections

Narrow streets and older buildings
Radial main streets leading from the CBD

Greenbelts and Parks

Eastern European Cities

Very similar to Western European Cites
Generally compact with high population density
Sharp break at edge between urban and rural
CBD focused on Governmental uses instead of markets
Micro-Districts for residential population

10,000 to 15,000 people
Generally self-sufficient
Located adjacent to industrial areas

Undergoing change

Canadian Cities

A transition form between European and U.S. urban models
Higher population densities
Well developed public transportation
Urban sprawl and roads/streets to accommodate the automobile
Focus remains on the CBD and not edge cities

Non-Western Cities

Latin American Model is commonly found

Centered around a Central Business District and a Commercial Spine
Elite Residential Zone anchored to the CBD and CS
A Zone of Maturity consists of mainly middle-class housing
A Zone of In-Situ-Accretion is a mix of middle and low income housing, generally thought of as a transitional area (moving either up on down)
A Zone of Peripheral Squatter Settlements surrounds the city, made up of the millions of impoverished and unskilled workers and recent migrants to the city

A center for the Informal Sector (Black Market)
Outside of government control or enforcement
Barrios or Favelas

Squatter Settlements on unused land along highways, rail corridors, and riverbanks. Even poorer then those in the PSS.

Cultural variations depend upon religions practiced, degree of colonial impact, etc…

1300 Chapter 10 - Economic Geography

2006-09-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Economic Geography

How people earn their living, how livelihood systems vary by area, and how economic activities are spatially interrelated and linked.
The study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth

Categories of Activity

Based on increasing complexity and distance from primary subsistence activities

Primary Activities

Harvesting or extracting something from the earth
Hunting and Gathering, agriculture, mining, fishing, etc…

Secondary Activities (Form Utility)

Those activities which add value to goods (and services) by changing their form or combining them into other commodities
Manufacturing and processing industries as well as the energy and construction industries

Tertiary Activities

Specializations which provide goods and services to the community and the individual
Middlepersons between the producer and the consumer

Quaternary Activities

The processing and dissemination of information
The administration and control the previous levels (management)

Quinary Activities

High level decision-making in large organizations

Types of Economic Systems

Subsistence Economy

Production of what is needed by the producers and their immediate kinship group
Subsistence farming and hunter-gatherer groups

Commercial Economies

Producers market their goods and services and price is determined by supply and demand.
Market competition is the primary force shaping production decisions and distribution
Capitalism

Planned Economies

Governments control both supply and price
Production and distribution patterns tightly controlled by central planning departments
Communism (Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea)

Most nations/peoples operate in a mixture of all three of these economies

Stages of Development

From least to most developed
GDP, stage of industrialization or post-industrialization

Seem to not explain outside interference and interrelations

Degree of Exploitation (World Systems Theory)

Primary Activities

Food Acquisition

· Sufficient food in the world for everyone to be feed

· Uneven distribution of food resources

o Mainly in Africa and other Third World nations

· Hunting and Gathering

o Pre-agricultural food acquisition

Agriculture

The growing of crops and the tending of livestock
Depends on proper soils, moisture, growing season, etc…
Greatly affected by advances in technology

Subsistence Agriculture

Farming to provide for the immediate needs of the people involved

Found primarily in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia

Extensive Subsistence Agriculture

Large areas of land and minimal labor input
Generally low population densities and low productivity
Nomadic Herding

The wandering but controlled movement of livestock
Solely dependent upon natural forage
Greatest amount of land area per person
Animals display hardiness, mobility, ability to subsist on local forage
Primary subsistence form of the herder
Movement tied to climate changes, seasons, and altitude
Transhumance – seasonal movement to exploit local, climatic and geographic variations

Shifting Cultivation

Generally found in tropical environments (warm, moist, low-latitude areas)
Swidden, Slash-and-Burn, etc…
Shifting fields as nutrients decrease (nomadic agriculture)
Subsistence or cash crops
Efficient for low population densities with plenty of land and limited technological levels
Destructive at higher population densities

Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

Small areas of land with high labor input
Population densities and productivity are both high
About 45% of the world’s population
Shift from family foodstuffs to cash cropping
Rice – primary example
Birds, cattle, hogs, goats
Can be found in urban areas

Intensification

Increasing productivity of existing cropland

Increase irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, and labor
Green Revolution

Genetic improvements in crops
Uneven availability

Generally oriented toward commercial crops
Costly
Increased levels of mechanization
Ecological damage due to fertilizers and pesticides
Loss of crop and genetic variety

Increased risk of disease and loss

Groundwater depletion

Commercial Agriculture

Agricultural production for sale in a market
Production Controls

Specialization – focus on one or a limited number of crops
Off-Farm Sale – instead of subsistence
Interdependence – between producers and consumers in markets
Market uncertainty

Shift from “family” farms to “industrial” farms
Intensive Commercial Agriculture

Production of high yield corps with high market value
Fruits, vegetables, dairy products
Dairy farms and Truck Farms

Close proximity to markets
High transportation costs

Livestock-grain farming

Growing grain to be fed to livestock
Close to good transportation networks
Dependent upon price of secondary production

Location many times dependent upon land use restrictions and environmental standards

Intensive agriculture leads to environmental degradation and pollution

Extensive Commercial Agriculture

Lower yield crops on large plots of land
Wheat (cereal) Farming

Expensive product and technology
Low expense per unit of land on large farms

Livestock ranching

Generally on land unsuitable for crop agriculture
Distant from markets
Dependent upon good transportation networks
Generally commercial ranching leads to overgrazing and environmental degradation

Special Crops

Mediterranean Agriculture

Grapes, olives, oranges, figs, vegetables, etc…
Dependent upon long, warm growing season and sunlight
Tend to be very agriculturally fertile lands
Generally require irrigation systems for intensification

Plantation System

Foreign involvement into an indigenous economy
Often employs a foreign labor force
Foreign crops introduced into new areas
Specialized crops – tobacco, sugar cane, coffee, bananas
A northern European development – Colonial period

Von Thünen’s Isolated State Model

Postulated a central market center surrounded by concentric zones of land use.
Land use was determined by transportation costs.
Very basic model with many oversimplifications.

Most intensive agriculture was found close to the market
Less intensively produced commodities produced farther away
Transportation needs and cost affect location of activity

High market value and high transport cost along will be found close to market
Commodities with lower transportation and production costs and which are less perishable will be produced at greater distances

Fishing

Gathering industry
Inland Catch

From ponds, lakes, and rivers
Around 7% of total fish catch

Fish Farming

Fish farms…

Marine Catch

From coastal waters or the High Seas
61% of total fish catch
Mainly from coastal waters on the continental shelves
Mainly in northern waters

Marine Catch is seriously affected by pollution and over fishing

Maximum Sustainable Yield

Largest volume or rate of use which will not impairs its ability to be renewed or maintained for future productivity

Tragedy of the Commons

When the resource is available to all, individual users (in the absence of controls) will exploit the resource to its maximum extent, without regard for others, leading to the eventual depletion of the resource

Aquaculture

The breeding of fish in fish farms in both fresh and salt water
30% of total fish catch

Primary Products and Activities

Fishing
Forestry
Mining and Quarrying

Trade in Primary Products

About 25% of all trade is in primary products
Traditional – Industrial Trade

From less-developed nations to more developed ones
Toward production, manufacturing, and processing regions
Manufactured goods back throughout the world

Post-industrial Trade Patterns

Less developed states increasingly producing 2^nd stage goods as well as primary products
Importation of cheap manufactured goods by First World States
Alternate materials being found for many minerals and other primary materials

Trade is increasingly hampered by artificial/political trade barriers and subsidies implemented by First World States

Secondary Activities

Manufacturing

Symbol of Industrial power and advancement
Standardized, low-cost goods
Improvements in transportation and innovation
Rise of the middle class
Locations dependent more on Cultural and Economic patterns instead of physical geography

Economically Rational

People make decisions based on universal concepts of what is most cost-effective and advantageous

Maximization of Profit

The goal of producers and sellers

Industrial Location Models

Based on the best combination of the Variable Costs

The costs involved in transportation, labor, production, land, etc…
Measured against the profit of the item being produced

Least Cost Theories

Weberian Analysis (early 1900’s)

Transportation Costs

Based on a formula for determining the cost of the transportation relative to the raw materials and the finished product
Material-oriented (weight loosing) Industry – where the product weighs less than the raw material

Located close to source of raw material

Market-oriented (weight gaining) Industry – where the product weighs more than the raw material

Located close to the market for the product

Labor Costs

Unskilled labor

Common – can be found anywhere

Skilled (Deskilled) labor

Limited resource – generally found in clusters
Silicon valley, around urban areas and universities

Agglomeration Costs

Clustering of productive activities and people
The trend of supporting activities to cluster together to reduce transportation costs and increase access to people
Too much competition or over taxation lead to deglomeration

Substitution Principle

The concept of offsetting (substituting) a high cost activity with a low cost one (i.e. accept higher transportation costs to acquire low labor and agglomeration costs…)
Increases the places where industry may be profitably located

Spatial Margin of Profitability

Expands the substitution principle to create areas where industry can be located.

Transportation Variables

Water transportation is cheapest form of transport
Railways and highways increase attractiveness of inland points
Footloose Activity

Where transportation is not a relevant variable

Ubiquitous Industries

Inseparable from markets and widely distributed
Highly perishable commodities for immediate consumption

Agglomeration (External) Economies

Savings from shared transport facilities, social services, public utilities and communications networks, etc…
Infrastructure (see previous point)
Concentrations of skilled and unskilled labor
Access to markets and auxiliary services and businesses
Multiplier Effect

Each additional industry/business makes the area more attractive for other businesses.
Urbanization

Flexible Production Systems

Ability to move rapidly between different levels of output and from one process or product to another

Just-in-Time Production (JIT)

Reduce inventories (storage costs) by having supplies arrive just in time for use and for producing products just in time for sale.
Frequent ordering of small amounts of goods for immediate use (lean manufacturing)
Encourages suppliers to locate near users
Subject to massive interference due to failure of one part of the chain

Weather
Strikes
War
Etc…

Comparative Advantage

Economies improve through specialization and trade

Regional specialization
Areas must have different advantages and free trade policies

Outsourcing

Producing parts or products abroad for domestic sale
Subcontracting production and service work to outside contractors

Adjunct Professors…

Maquiladoras – formed along U.S.-Mexican border following NAFTA

Close to U.S. markets but with cheap labor and reduced environmental and labor oversight

Offshoring

The hiring of foreign workers or moving aspects of a business to a foreign provider

Call centers, etc…

Dependent upon modern telecommunications and transportation

Transnational Corporations

Apply all of the above
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

The purchase or construction of factories and other assets by TNCs

Dependent upon modern communications and transportation networks

World Manufacturing Patterns and Trends

Four major manufacturing regions

Eastern Anglo America
Western and Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Asia

Remain mostly areas of primary industrialization in the 18^th Century
World Industrialization spreading to other areas

The East Asia region
Brazil and Argentina, India, Southern Africa, Southern Asia

Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs)

Tertiary Activities and Beyond

Services and management for the primary and secondary sectors as well as to the general populace and individuals
Replace Primary and Secondary Activities in Post-Industrial States

U.S. is a leader in this process

Apply to both “low-order” or traditional activities as well as to “high-order” knowledge-based services

Barber
Shopkeeper
Computer programmer/IT Specialist
Consultants for businesses

Tertiary Activities

Tertiary applies mainly to the low-order activities
Place Utility

Wholesaling or retailing of goods

Effective Demand

Wants made meaningful through purchasing power
Determine where Tertiary activities locate

Growth through Outsourcing
Location Tendencies

Proximity to universities
Avoidance of areas with strong unions
Locally available venture capital
Areas with favorable quality of life
Good communication and transportation infrastructure

Tertiary Activities and Beyond

Difficult to sometimes distinguish between Tertiary and Quaternary Activities
Quaternary services generally involve:

Specialized knowledge
Technical skills
Communication skills
Administrative competence

Over 80% of workers in the U.S. labor force (including Tertiary)
Difference between Quaternary and Quinary appears to be level of salary and benefits…

Services in World Trade

20% of total world trade
Dependent entirely upon advances in telecommunications and data transmission
Cluster in national centers and regions with connections with existing centers

1300 Chapter 9 - Political Geography

2006-09-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Political Geography

The study of the organization and distribution of political phenomena in their areal expression.

Political Geography Considers (from Wikipedia)

How and why states are organized into regional groupings, both formally (e.g. the European Union) and informally (e.g. the Third World)
The relationship between states and former colonies, and how these are propagated over time through neo-colonialism
The relationship between a government and its people
The relationships between states including international trades and treaties
The functions, demarcations and policing of boundaries
How imagined geographies have political implications
The influence of political power on geographical space
The study of election results (election geography)

National Political Systems

State

An independent political unit occupying a defined territory and having full sovereign control over its internal and foreign affairs.
Does not include colonies or protectorates
Doe not actually include Anocracies – Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, etc…

Country

Same as state

Nation

A community of people with a common culture and territory, bound together by a strong sense of unity arising from shared beliefs and customs.

Nation-State

European invention
Where a nation corresponds to a state

Bi-national or Multinational State

States which contain more than one nation
Empires

Part-nation State (Irredentism)

A single nation predominant in and dispersed across two or more states
Greater Serbia or Greater Germany, Arab Nation

Stateless Nation

A people without a state
Amerindian Tribes, the Kurds, Basques, Palestinians

Anocracies (Center for Systemic Peace)

Societies where central authority is weak or nonexistent. Kinship bonds extended by personal allegiances to notable leaders are the principal relations. Likely to foster terrorism
A middling category of states with incoherent or inconsistent authority patterns: partly liberal, partly authoritarian.
Relatively vulnerable and volatile states that often lack effective institutions and/or the capacities to establish and maintain social order

Evolution of Modern States

Slow development of nations out of Empires and Kingdoms

China, Japan, Russia

Nation-States

European Development
People owe allegiance to the State instead of an individual
A state is comprised of a nation
Peace of Westphalia – 1648
Ended 30 Years’ War and the 80 Years’ War

Treaty of Münster
Treaty of Osnabrück
Treaty of the Pyrenees – 1659
Germany (Holy Roman Empire), Spain, France, Sweden, Holland

Colonial States

Generally Multinational States
Borders drawn by Colonial Powers
No concern given to extant nations already present
Drawn to according to political and military realities in Europe
Africa and the Middle East (Southwest Asia)
Colonial Legacies result in violence and economic uncertainty

Berlin Conference of 1884

14 European states divided African up without regard to native status
Results of Superimposed Boundaries

African peoples and cultures were divided
Unified regions were broken apart
Hostile societies forced together

Minority Rule

Hinterlands disrupted
Migration routes closed

Legacy of Political and Economic Fragmentation

Colonial Legacy in Africa

Transportation grid is organized to move resources from the interior to the coast
Internal communication routes impeded
Dual Economy

States depend on just one or a very few crops or resources
Vulnerable to world markets

Antagonism between tribes within nations

Challenges to the State

Globalization

Transnational Corporations

International and Supranational Institutions

European Union
World Trade Organization
United Nations
NAFTA

Emergence of NGO’s

Interests and actions cut across national boundaries

International Migration

Dilution of national identities

Devolution

Nationalist and separatist movements

Geographic Characteristics of States

Size

Mini-states – states with very small land areas and, generally, less than one million people
Lichtenstein, Luxemburg, island states of the Pacific

Shape

Compact States

Roughly circular states

Prorupt States

Compact but with one or more narrow extension of territory
Myanmar, Thailand

Elongated States

Long and narrow states
Chile, Norway, Italy
Diversity of climate and peoples

Fragmented States

States with territory separated from the rest, as on islands
Indonesia, Philippines, United States
Issues of control and centralization

Enclave

Territory of one state is located within another state (form of fragmentation)
Angola, West Berlin

Perforated State

A state which surrounds an area which it does not rule
South Africa (Lesotho), Italy (Vatican City)

Location

Both Absolute and Relative
Northern Latitudes or Tropical
Landlocked States
Border States

Core Area

The original nucleus of the state, where the highest population density, largest cities, and most developed transportation networks exist

Paris Basin of France, Moscow in Russia
State’s capital is located

State Organization

Unitary States

States with highly centralized governments and strong national identities
Most Western and Central European States, Japan

Federal States

Associations of more-or-less equal provinces with a strong central government
United States, Canada, Australia

Asymmetric Federalism (Regional)

When a Unitary State recognizes the autonomy of regions within it and grants them some degree of local administrative control
United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland)

Forward Capital

A capital positioned in actually or potentially contested territory
To confirm a state’s determination to maintain its presence in the region of contention
A “Growth Pole” Concept

A city founded to encourage regional economic development of the hinterland

Brasilia, St. Petersburg

Boundaries

International Boundaries

Lines that establish the limit of each state’s jurisdiction and authority
Where the sovereignty of one state ends and another begins

Surface rights
Mineral rights
Air space
Territorial waters and international waters

Frontier Zones

Ill-defined and fluctuating zones marking the edge of a state’s authority
Modern state boundaries generally eliminate frontier zones

Natural Boundaries

Based on recognizable physiographic features

Mountain chains
Rivers
Coastlines

Most of the boundaries in Europe

Artificial or Geometric Boundaries

A boundary without an obvious physical or geographic boundary
Often a parallel of latitude or meridian of longitude
Boundaries created by colonial powers in Africa and Southwest Asia

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary drawn before the landscape is populated and developed

The western boundary between the U.S. and Canada (49^th Parallel)
54-40 or fight…

Subsequent Boundary

Drawn after the development of the populated cultural landscape
Consequent (Ethnographic) Boundary

Drawn to accommodate existing linguistic, ethnic, etc., differences
Mason-Dixon Line

Superimposed Boundary

Forced upon existing cultural landscapes, a country, or a people by a conquering or colonizing power.
Africa and the United States

Relic Boundary

A former boundary line that no longer functions as such and is still marked by some landscape features on differences on the two sides

Berlin Wall
Hadrian’s Wall

Boundaries and Conflict

Landlocked States

Depend upon neighboring states for access to trade routes

Water as National Boundary

Along the centerline or the edge of a body of water
Along a watershed and ridge crest
Meandering rivers which change channels
Lakes
Use of that water

Minority and Group Identification

Irredentism

When an ethnic group in one country is more closely related to that in another.
Hungary-Romania-Transylvania or Germany and the Sudetenland

Stateless Peoples

Attempt to carve out a homeland from within one or more nations
Kurds, Basques

Internal Secessionist Movements

Resource Disputes

Immigration, Migration, and customs regulations

U.S. and Mexico

Resources which cross a border

Oil fields, water

Over land to protect a perceived resource

Israel – its own land

Centripetal Forces: State Cohesion

Nationalism

Personal identification with a state and acceptance of national goals

Adherence to laws
Acceptance of ideology
Participate in the process

Consensus Nationalism

Nationalism overcoming various group identities
United States, Switzerland

Iconography

The symbols which unite a people
Flags, songs, sports, etc…

Unifying Institutions

Both to identify with and to shape that identification
Schools and education
Armed Forces
Religion or churches

Organization and Administration

Public confidence in the effectiveness of the state

Protection from perceived enemies
Care of its people
Acceptance of the Rule of Law

Transportation and Communication

Ability to integrate far-flung pieces of the state

Roads
Railways
Phone and mail systems

Restrictions on international movement

Higher costs
Customs, Visas, and Border Checks

Centrifugal Forces: Challenges to State Authority (Devolution)

Religion

Multiple Faiths within a nation
Church as opposed to state authority

Sub-Nationalism

Where people give their loyalty to ethnic or “national” groups that are smaller than the State.

Regionalism

Identification with a small region as opposed to the State
Regional Autonomy/Devolution

The process whereby regions and peoples within a state demand and gain political strength and autonomy at the expense of the central government.

Terrorism and Separatist Movements

Factors behind the rise of Separatist Movements

Ethnic Cleansing
Government Oppression
National Identity and Territory
Peripheral Location
Social and Economic Inequalities

Terrorism (Fourth Generation Warfare)

Calculated violence to publicize a cause, intimidate or coerce a civilian population, or affect the conduct of a government.

Purpose to Create Fear
To achieve political or other goals without winning a military victory
Generally focus on “soft” or civilian targets
Symbolic targets

A weapon or a type of warfare or directed violence
Confusion over who is a terrorist

Types of Terrorism

International Terrorism

Acts which transcend state boundaries

Domestic Terrorism

Acts against their own country

State Terrorism

Acts committed by agents of a government
As old as states – Rome

Subnational Terrorism

Domestic Terrorism conducted by sub-national groups

Responses to Terrorism

Addressing the causes of the terrorist
Increasing international cooperation
Increasing domestic security
Military response

Supranationalism

Associations of three or more states created for mutual benefit where the states relinquish some national authority to the supranational organization.

United Nations
NAFTA
European Union

Untied Nations

Only universal supranational organization
Almost 200 members
Main focus is to promote world peace

Peacekeeping Forces

Member nations do not surrender sovereignty

Maritime Boundaries

Provide security for a nation
Control of trade and commerce

Customs Regulations

Enforce quarantines
Enforce claims of neutrality

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 – Ratified 1994

Territorial Sea

12 nautical miles
Exclusive sovereignty
Exclusive fishing rights

Contiguous Zone

24 nautical miles
Limited sovereignty
Enforce customs, immigration, and sanitation laws

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

200 nautical miles (350 within a continental shelf)
Exclusive rights to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage resources on the seabed and waters

High Seas

Beyond the EEZ
Outside any national jurisdiction (Freedom of the High Seas)
Right to access, use, and explore to all
Resources are considered part of the Common Heritage of Humanity

Regional Alliances

Smaller groupings of states for economic, military, or political cooperation
Formation of one coalition often stimulates formation of others
Usually formed from contiguous states
Internal Economies do not generally matter

Economic Alliances

European Union

Benelux Agreements
Organization for European Cooperation (1948)
European Coal and Steel Community (1952)
European Economic Community (EEC)/Common Market (1957)

Inner Six

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (1960)

Outer Seven

Largest and richest of the world’s economic blocs
Single Currency

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 1994

Canada, United States, Mexico
Removing trade and movement restrictions between the states

Common Market of the Southern Cone (MERCOSUR)

Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela

Associate members Bolivia and Chile

Free trade agreement

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
ASEAN + Three

China, Japan, Republic of Korea

East Asia Summit

Plus Australia, India, New Zealand

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum

21 members
Free trade in the Pacific by 2020

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Control of oil production and distribution
Price controls
11 member nations
Control around 66% of the world’s oil reserves

Military Alliances

Strength through unity
Depend upon common interests and perceptions
Depend upon political goodwill among the members
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

North America and Western Europe
Formed to protect Europe from the Soviet Union (Warsaw Pact)
Uncertain new mission
Focused on peacekeeping

Political Alliances

Based on a variety of different factors and concerns

Common objectives
Common history

Tend to be more loose than other alliances
Less loss of sovereignty than with other supranational organizations
Commonwealth of Nations

Formerly the British Commonwealth
53 member states – all former British Colonies
Based on cultural commonalities
Focus on economic cooperation
Human rights and democracy

Organization of American States

35 states of the Americas
Cuba is excluded
Earliest incarnations in the late 1800’s
Fully functional after 1948
Primarily focused on human rights and democracy

Failed Political Alliances

United Arab Republic

Syria and Egypt

Central Africa Federation

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

Federation of Malaysia and Singapore
Federation of the West Indies

Local and regional political organization

Have most effect upon individuals
Operate within well defined geographical areas
Make behavior-governing decisions

Geography of Representation

Redistricting/Reapportionment

Redrawing of boundary lines to reflect the most up-to-date population shifts
U.S. Census is most authoritative

Every 10 years
Basis for national congressional offices
Basis for many state and local offices

Most rely on state legislatures for redistricting
Gerrymandering

Drawing electoral districts so as to favor one political party over another
Tullymandering – Irish, generally refers to a failed attempt to gerrymander

Electoral Geography

Study of voting districts and the spatial patterns of election results

Political Fragmentation

Due to size of State and decentralized power
Reduction in efficiency
Duplication of effort
Competing and Conflicting ordinances and rules
Conflict between local and regional needs and interests

Pollution
Voting
Health Care
Zoning

1300 Chapter 8 - Spatial Interaction

2006-09-27T06:42:00.001-07:00

Spatial Interaction

Refers to the interdependence between geographic areas

Movement of people between places
Flow of goods from one region to another
Diffusion of ideas from a center of knowledge

The amount of spatial interaction is a function of the size of the interdependent populations and the distance between them

A Post-Industrial World collapses distance between places
Thus the amount of spatial interaction depends not on distance but on relationships between areas and populations

Distance Decay

The decline of an activity with (perceived) increasing distance from the point of origin.

Critical Distance

The perceived distance beyond which cost, effort, and/or means cause a reduction in our interaction.

Friction of Distance

A measure of the amount of distance decay on spatial interaction

Time-Distance

A measure of the cost or effort, in time, to complete a distance activity

Psychological Distance

Distance as perceived by the individual or group
Mental maps

Barriers to Interaction

Distance

Actual or perceived

Fiscal Cost

How much does it cost to bridge the distance
Internet connections, airline tickets, fuel prices, etc…

Physical Environment

Cost in time, perception, and effort

Culture

Language, Government interference, beliefs, etc…

Psychological

Maintenance of privacy, prejudices, familiarity, etc…

Technological

Incompatible systems, absence of proper technology or education

Innovation

More people with more interaction increases the rate of innovation
Cities as foci of innovation
Communication technology as an enabler of innovation
Cultural and Governmental openness to interaction and communication

Biased Innovation

When innovation spreads in relation to social context as opposed to spatial context
Innovations which are less accessible to certain genders, races, social classes, or ages.

Unable to afford it or have the education to access or understand it

Individual Activity Space

Territoriality

The attachment to and defence of home ground
Nation States, gang territory, psychological space, etc…

Activity Space

The areas through which people move while conducting their regular activities
Generally a shared space
Defined by “trips”

Variables of Activity Space

Life stage

Determined by membership within an age group
Preschool, School age, Young Adult, Adult, Elderly

Mobility

The actual ability to travel
Access to technology
Cost

Opportunities

Perceived and actual

Spatial Diffusion

The process by which a concept, practice, or substance spreads from its point of origin to new areas
Concept

Idea or invention – memes

Practice

A process or action

Substance

A tangible object or thing

Relocation Diffusion

Items being diffused leave their original area and move to new areas

People moving from one area to another, taking their culture with them

Expansion Diffusion

Items being diffused spread geographically by spreading from one person/area to another person/area while remaining with the original person.

Disease is an example of this as are most concepts and ideas

Contagious Diffusion

People and places closest to the origin will be affected first while the farther away you area the longer it takes for the item to reach you.

Disease

Hierarchical Diffusion

Spread of items follows a hierarchical pattern of distribution

From large urban centers, to smaller cities, to towns
Up or down a ruling hierarchy

Spatial Interaction and Technology

Transportation Innovations – movement of people

Automobiles and freeways
Air travel

Communication Innovations – movement of information

Reliable mail
Telecommunications – internet and satellites

Migration

Relocation of place of residence and activity space
Intercontinental and Interregional

Abstract and mostly useless concepts as explained by the book
Can generally be seen as people moving from a home area to a completely different nation and continent
European migration to the Americas

Intraregional

Migration within a region – generally within a nation or state
Relocation for jobs within a country
New Orleans residents following Katrina

Forced or Involuntary migration

People are forced to move without their consent

Reluctant migration

When people have a choice but not a desire to move

Voluntary migration

When people make a positive choice to move

Incentives to Migrate

Push Factors

Negative conditions at origin

Pull Factors

Positive attractions of destination

Economic Factors

Single most important incentive

Political Factors

War, government oppression

Cultural Factors

Generally only affect direction of migration/determine end point

Amenities

Similar to cultural variables, importance increases with immigrant’s wealth and status

Place Utility

The value that an individual puts on a given residential site

Social, economic, and environmental perceptions

Step Migration

An eventual long-distance migration taken in smaller increments

Chain Migration

Sustained migration as subsequent migrants follow earlier migrants

Rural to Urban Migration

Urbanization

Barriers to Migration

Physical barriers

Natural barriers
Manmade barriers

Economic barriers

Cost to travel
Cost to establish new residence
Cost to maintain contact with old residence

Cultural barriers

Similarities and differences between home and new culture

Political barriers

Government restrictions on out and in migration and travel

Patterns of Migration

Migration Field

An area that dominates a locals in- and out- migration patterns.
Tend to be large nations/states and large urban areas

Channelized Migration

The tendency for migration to flow between areas that are socially and economically allied by past migration patterns, economic trade considerations, or by some other affinity (Chain Migration)

Return or Counter-migration

The return of migrants to their points of origin or elsewhere

Hierarchical Migration

The tendency for migrants to move from a smaller to a larger site
Urbanization
Effects of Post-Industrial Societies on direction

Laws of Migration (Expanded from E. G. Ravenstein – 1885)
Here is a summary of the laws in simple language.

Most migrants only go a short distance
Longer distance migration favors big-city destinations.
Large cities are migrant magnets.
Most migration proceeds step by step.
Most migration is rural to urban.
Each migration flow produces a counterflow.
Most migrants are adults; families are less likely to make international moves.
Most international migrants are young males.
Nations with long and/or open borders are attractive to migrants

Globalization

The increasing interconnection of all parts of the world
Integration and interdependence

Economic, political, and cultural

Technological innovations in communication
Process by which the experience of everyday life ... is becoming standardized around the world."

Economic Integration

International Banking

Interconnection and interdependence of international financial systems

International Monetary Fund
Asian Development Bank
European Monetary Institute
World Bank
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Inter-American Development Bank

Transnational Corporations

A headquarters in one nation and other facilities in other nations
As many as 65,000 or more currently in existence
Exploit variations in wage rates and resource costs to lower production costs and maximize profits

Global Marketing

The process of marketing goods throughout the world

Cars, fast food restaurants, computers, books, movies

Dependent upon the upwardly mobile and wealthy to continue the cycle

Political Integration

Supranationalism

Three or more countries joining together and giving up some of their national sovereignty to a larger institution.

NAFTA
European Union
World Trade Organization

Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

An organization that is not directly a part of a government

Red Cross/Red Crescent
Greenpeace
Amnesty International
Doctors Without Borders

News media and the Internet

Brings events across the world into closer contact
Allow grass-roots organizations to address issues

Cultural Integration

The spread, mixing, and combining of national culture into a world culture due to increased economic and political integration.

Spread by the internet and mass media as well as Transnational Corps
American culture as the dominant culture
English as the dominant Lingua Franca
Pokémon, Sudoku, “Whatever” Idol, You Tube, MySpace, etc…

Post-Industrial/Post Cold War World

Defined by networks, not walls
Cold war defined by throw-weight of intercontinental ballistic missiles
Globalization defined by speed

Communication
Commerce
Travel
Innovation

Cold War = Sumo Wrestling
Globalization = Knife fight/Ninjas

Tension between unfettered and guided globalization

Benefits of Globalization

Increased innovation

Rise of the individual over the nation state

Increased standards of living, literacy, and health to developing nations

Decreased maternal and child mortality rates
Increased vaccination and health care
Access to clean water and sufficient food
Access to modern technology (cell phones, electricity)
Decrease of child labor

Reduction of barriers to international trade and commerce

More goods available at lower cost to all consumers
Empowerment of Third World entrepreneurs

Supranational recognition of intellectual property restrictions/rights
Increase in Democracy and suffrage for peoples (@63% of nations)

Negatives of Globalization

Increased ecological damage and danger

Global Warming
Overpopulation

Increased innovation

Rise of the individual over the nation state (terrorism)

Cultural Imperialism

Destruction of local culture by the super-culture
Destruction of national identity

Exploitation of Third World people and nations

Sub-par wages
Dangerous and unhealthy working conditions and hours
Lax environmental laws and enforcement

Job loss due to job relocation
Increased corporate power in the national sphere

World Systems Theory (Immanuel Wallerstein)

A world-system is any historical social system of interdependent parts that form a bounded structure and operate according to distinct rules, or "a unit with a single division of labor and multiple cultural systems" (1974a: 390).

mini-systems,
world empires, and
world-economies.

The modern world-system is a world-economy: it is "larger than any juridically defined political unit" and "the basic linkage between its parts is economic"
Origin in the European world-economy created in the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth century (1974b: 15), but only consolidated in its current form by the mid-seventeenth century (1974a: 401).
The crisis of feudalism created strong motivation to seek new markets and resources;

Technology gave Europeans a solid base for exploration (1974b: 39).

North Western Europeans exploited initially small differences, via specialization in activities central to world commerce, to ultimately large advantage.

Strong Core-Periphery Structure

Core Areas

First World Nations (Western Europe, North America, some Asian nations)
Maintain position through economic and military power
Serve the interests of the economically powerful
Maintain economic stability
Maintain dependence of periphery areas

Semi-Periphery States

Second World nations
Help to maintain Core power
Deflect ire of periphery nations from Core nations
Provide different services and markets than periphery areas

Core power is maintained through a shared ideology and national myth

Currently it is the ideology of capitalism and liberalism which is the global geo-culture

Labor and production are spread across the three zones differentially

Change

Cyclical crises follow periods of innovation and expansion with periods of recession and stagnation.
Shifts in the power of the Hegemonic states

China, India, United States, England, Netherlands, etc…
Periods of clear leadership alternate with struggle (as now)

Resistance movements and ideology offer alternatives and variations

Socialism and anti-globalization movements

Current Situation

US Hegemony in decline since about 1970
In a period of crisis and change
Both capitalism and liberalism are exhausted as forms of international myth
Struggles against the ideas of global capitalism and liberalism

1300 Chapter 7 - Cultural Geography

2006-09-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Culture

The specialized behavioral patterns, understandings, and adaptations that summarize the way of life of a group of people.

Culture is a learned pattern, based on imitation, instruction, example, and rebellion.

Not homogeneous
Complex, interrelated web of behaviors and attitudes
Generally non-biological (not skin or hair color, sex, etc…)

Culture Traits

most basic units of learned behavior that comprise a culture

Language
Tool kit
Games
Technology
Objects and other Physical artifacts
Techniques
Beliefs
Attitudes

Culture Complex

a group of interrelated Culture Traits that form one, or more, aspects of a culture.
An integrated group of cultural traits functioning as a distinct system within a culture area.

Cattle Ranching
Business Culture
Sports Culture

Culture System

The non-biological mechanism that relates the human organism to its physical and social environments. It is a perspective that thinks of culture and its environment as a number of linked systems in which change occurs through a series of minor, linked variations in one or more of these systems.

Culture Region

A spatially distinct area occupied by people sharing recognizable and distinctive cultural characteristics.
A region is likely to coincide with a major physiographic subdivision in which at a given time a high degree of cultural homogeneity may be expected but not counted on.

Culture Realm

A set of cultural regions showing related culture complexes and landscapes.

All of these Cultural complexes, systems, regions, and realms tend to be subjective, with soft boundaries and are subject to change and/or modification depending upon the researcher and the questions being asked.

Interaction of People and Environment

Environmental Determinism

The belief that the physical environment by itself shapes humans, their actions, and their thoughts.

Central Geographic Paradigm up until the 1940’s
Humans operate under a stimulus-response relationship with the environment
Used to explain and maintain European/Western cultural and physical dominance
Ellen Churchill Semple – central U.S. proponent of this theory (early 1900’s)
Underlay the justifications used by the Nazi’s for their genocidal practices

Cultural Ecology

The study of the relationship between a culture group and the environment.

Interrelations of people and the environment
Their perceptions of the landscape
Their use and modification of the landscape
focused on flows of energy and materials and how people perceive their landscape
Tends to ignore interactions between political units and outside cultural impacts

Carl O. Sauer – (1927) "Recent Developments in Cultural Geography"

Response to Environmental Determinism
Called landscape morphology or culture history
Looks at the impact of humans on the landscape across time and space
Uses the Superorganic theory of culture

Looks at a culture region as a unified entity
Tends to ignore the contributions of individuals

Anthropologist Julian Steward – (1955) "Theory of Culture Change; The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution”

“study of the adaptive processes by which the nature of society, and an unpredictable number of features of culture, are affected by the basic adjustment through which man utilizes a given environment.”
Develops from Environmental Determinism
Builds on and is in reaction to Carl Sauer

Possibilism

Theory that while the environment sets certain limitations or constraints culture is determined through the relationships of people.

Marshall Sahlins (1960) Evolution and Culture

(1976) Culture and Practical Reason

Economic systems adapt to specific environments in culturally specific ways
Perception of cultures of their landscape and their history
Evolution of economic and political systems
General evolution

the tendency of cultural and social systems to increase in complexity, organization and adaptiveness to environment

Specific evolution

How human culture affects and modifies general evolution

Cultural Landscape

The natural landscape as modified by human activities and bearing the imprint of a culture group or society, a built landscape.

Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893

"The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development,"

Cultural Subsystems

Sociological – social organizational
Ideological
Technological – determining subsystem – “the hero of the piece”

Social Systems are determined by the Technological System

A three-part system to understand the building blocks of culture as set forth by anthropologist Leslie White – a technological utopian.
White saw this not as a helpful heuristic device but as the actual division of nature and the universe.

Culture was a superorganic entity that was sui generis and could only be explained in terms of itself. The primary function of culture is its ability to harness and control energy.

Human Energy
Domesticated Animals
Agriculture – plant energy
Natural Resources – Industrial revolution
Nuclear Energy

C = ET

Where C = degree of cultural development
E is the measure of energy used per year per capita
T is the efficiency of the technological factors using the energy

Technology is an attempt to solve the problems of survival.
This attempt ultimately means capturing enough energy and diverting it for human needs.
Societies that capture more energy and use it more efficiently have an advantage over other societies.
Therefore, these different societies are more advanced in an evolutionary sense.

Robert Lowie referred to White's work as "a farrago of immature metaphysical notions" shaped by "the obsessive power of fanaticism [which] unconsciously warps one's vision."

Technological Subsystem

the instruments and tools people use in the daily cycle of life

Agricultural practices
Urbanization
Less Technologically advanced societies tend to have a larger share of their population engaged in agriculture.

Communications
Government
Standards of Living
Industrial and Post-Industrial Societies
Disease
History

Sociological Subsystem

The socio-facts used to define the social organizations of a culture

Religion
Institutions
Formal and Informal Education
Industry and Market
Land Tenure
Etc…

Ideological Subsystem

The ideas, beliefs, knowledge, and expression of a culture – menti-facts – what we ought to believe, what we should value, how we ought to act.

Cultural Integration

the interlocking nature of all aspects of a culture

Culture Change

Change is induced by innovation, spatial diffusion, and acculturation

Innovation – evolution of ideas within a culture

Technology
Social
Ideology
All societies tend to be conservative and resistant to change and innovation

Change tends to disrupt societal equilibrium
Creates tension between various subsystems

Cultural Lag – the time between innovation and general adoption of a new technology or idea within a culture

Spatial Diffusion

The process by which an innovation spreads from a point of origin into new territories.
Migration – the movement of people along with their ideas
Information exchange – the idea spreads across cultural boundaries

Syncretism – the fusion of new ideas with old

Acculturation

The process of one culture adopting the characteristics of another
Can be a two-way process
Can be voluntary or forced
Amalgamation Theory – melting pot concept of immigrant integration into an adopted culture
Assimilation – the end result of acculturation
Competition Theory – reassertion of cultural differences by a minority to defend its position within a society

Case Study – Origin and Spread of Agriculture

Agriculture began to be practiced in several places (Cultural Hearthlands) approximately 10,000 years ago.

The Fertile Crescent – the Levant
Mesoamerica
Andean South America
Yellow and Yangtze Rivers in China
Neolithic Revolution

No Single accepted theory for the transition to agriculture

Population pressure

Increased population taxes food resources and forces intensification of food gathering – grains
In stressed environments

Competitive Feasting

In resource rich areas
As a product of social complexity
High population regions

Oasis Theory

Resource rich but concentrated

Hilly Flanks or Natural Habitat Theory

Depends merely on the presence of humans and plants

Marginal Zone or Edge Hypothesis

People living in highly stressed regions of marginal resources
Forced to adapt agriculture

Results of Agriculture

Sedentism

Need to remain in one place to guard and harvest crops
Population increase

Survival of the young and old

Decline in overall health
Increasing marginalization of women

Rise of Complex Societies

Decision making efficiency

Six people of more

Presence of a surplus
Rise of Personal Aggrandizers

Private ownership of land and resources

Urbanization

Due to rise in population
Ability to control others

Through resources and ideology

Spread of Agriculture

The European Case

Into Southeastern Europe (the Balkans) by 8,000 BCE
Around the Mediterranean Periphery around 7,000 BCE

Migration and acculturation

Into Central Europe around 6,000 – 5,500 BCE

Migration of the LBK Culture (Linearbandkeramik)

Into Atlantic Europe around 4,500 BCE

Syncretism – the spread of ideas

ritual and alcohol

Cultural Diversity

Language, Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender among other traits

Language

An organized system of speech – a symbolic representation of the world
Language Families

A group of languages which have a common origin in an earlier tongue
Indo-European – very wide spread

Language Sub-Families

Romance Languages
Germanic
Slavic

Language Spread and Change

Dispersion of Speakers – migration
Acquisition of Speakers – acculturation
Language Evolution

Through time
Contact with other languages

Standard Language

Accepted community norms of syntax, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Dialects

Set apart by vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, and speed of speech
Regional Dialects – divided by regions or nations
Social Dialects – divided by socioeconomic class or education

Pidgin

An amalgam of languages
Generally restricted to a specific function

Commerce, Administration, Supervision

Highly simplified grammatical structure
Sharply reduced vocabulary
Ability to express simple ideas and concepts only

Creole

A new language formed from a more simple pidgin language
Creole of Louisiana, Swahili

Lingua Franca

A second language used by people with different native tongues for communication
Latin, French, English, Mandarin, Hindi

Language and Culture

Language reflects both the environment and technology of a culture.
Common language fosters unity
Language reflects gender, social, educational, and regional differences

Toponymy

The study of place names
The language of the land
Can reveal past historical facts about the landscape
Can trace past migrations and invasions

Official Language

A language that is the “official/legal” language of a nation or state
United States

English is the culturally accepted “official” language in most places
Spanish, Vietnamese, French, Gaelic, etc…

Religion

Religion

One of the single most important unifying or dividing socio and ideological aspects of culture throughout history.
Formalized view of an individual’s and group’s relationship with the world
Can have a major roll in influencing the Technological subsystem

Birth Control Devices
Immunization and health care
Technology itself

Involves systems of belief and faith in the sacred and divine

Culture may be religions

Islam, Judaism, Hinduism

Culture may be defined in opposition to religion

Humanism, Marxism

Individual Religions tend to be conservative while religious culture is dynamic

Can be modified due to social, ideological, or technological advances

Types

Universalizing Religions

faiths that claim applicability and openness to all humans and generally seek to spread their beliefs through evangelism and conversion.

Christianity, Islam, Buddhism

Ethnic Religions

generally strongly associated with a specific territory and cultural group – must be born or adopted into the religion

Judaism, Hinduism (Indian), Shinto

Tribal Religions

a sub-form of Ethnic Religions, generally defined by their association with a small group and is defines close ties to the natural world.

Animism (Africa), Shamanism (Native American) (Bunk really)

Secularism

An indifference to or rejection of religion and religious belief

Fundamentalism

A religious orthodoxy that is revivalist and, usually, ultraconservative

Overview of some religions

Judaism

One of the earliest Monotheistic Religions
Foundation of both Christianity and Islam
Ethnic religion

Primarily a single ethnic group – descendent of Abraham
Complex and restrictive set of laws and beliefs – the Torah

Origins in the Levant approximately 3,000 to 3,500 bp (1000 – 1500 BCE)
Defined by early military successes and later defeats

Diaspora – Babylon and later Roman
Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE
Pogroms and Holocaust

Founding of modern Israel
Quasi-Divided

Reformed
Conservative
Orthodox (Ultra-Orthodox)

Christianity

Developed from Judaism with Jesus’ teachings
Universalizing religion

Defined by Jewish roots and pagan heritage
Evangelism and conversion

Initially a religion of the underclass and dispossessed

Not a religion of the victorious

Adopted by the Roman Empire

Spread into Europe, Africa, and the Middle East
Followed European Colonialism in 17^th through 20^th Centuries

Divided Religion

Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodox
Catholic and Protestant

Islam

Developed out of Judaism, Christianity, Animism

The Prophet Mohammed

Universalizing religion

Defined by roots and Arabic culture

Origin in the 7^th Century CE
Religion of the Victorious

Crisis in modern, Middle Eastern Islam – Loss of the Caliphate

Divided Religion

Sunnis

Majority
Accept the Four Caliphs (not necessarily related to Mohammed)
Ruled the Middle East until WWI – Ottoman Empire
The Mahdi has not yet come

Shiites

Only Fourth Caliph legitimate (family of Mohammed)
12^th Imam disappeared in 931 and will return (the Mahdi)
Safavid Empire of Persia/Iran

Hinduism

Oldest major religion

At least 4000 years old

Ethnic Religion

Centered on Northern India (Indus River Valley)
Found mainly in India and South Asia

Centered around a Caste social structure

Individual and Social Dharma (law and duty)
Highly hierarchical

No central figure or icon

Buddhism

Developed out of Hinduism

Founded by the Buddha – Siddhartha Gautama

Universalizing Religion

Very philosophical
Explanations for evil and human suffering.
Missionaries
Open to all people and castes

Origins around the 6^th Century BCE
Spread throughout South Asia and China

Later spread into North America and Europe

Decline in India

Islam and Hinduism

Syncretism

Combinations of different forms and practices (mainly religions and philosophical)

China

Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
A Salad Bar Approach (Big Trouble in Little China)

Japan

Animism, Shamanism, and Buddhism formed Shinto

Geography of Religion

Settlement Patterns

Judaism

Settlement patterns centered on the synagogue.
Based on Religions belief

May only walk on the Sabbath.
Live within walking distance of the synagogue.

Formation of Jewish Ghettos in Europe pre WWII
Continues to this day
Temple

One Temple – in Jerusalem
Destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE
Only place where sacrifice is done
Restrictive access

Synagogue

Much smaller
Based on a village or neighborhood place of worship
For everyday interaction with the sacred
More egalitarian/open

Christianity

Focus around the community
Centered around Cathedrals and Churches
Interior geography of worship spaces – symbolic space

Islam

Centered on Mecca
Focus on the Mosque

Similar to Jewish Temple architecture
Restricted Access

Ethnicity

Ancestry of a particular people who have common cultural traits and heritage
Vague and nebulous term
Based on nationality, religion, language, customs, race, etc…
Ethnicity is generally applied to the minority groups within a country

Ethnocentrism

Belief of the superiority of one’s own ethnic group

Devolution

The process whereby regions and peoples within a state demand and gain political strength and autonomy at the expense of the central government.
Yugoslavia

1980 – Death of General Tito
1991 – Slovenia and Croatia decide to secede
Serbian Nationalism - Slobodan Miloshevic
1992 – Bosnia Herzegovina secedes
Civil War and Ethnic Cleansing
Intervention by NATO forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo

Gender

Socially created distinctions between femininity and masculinity
Differences determined by economic state, technological advancement, religion, and custom

Hunter-Gatherers – generally egalitarian
Agriculture – shift toward male dominance and decrease in societal power of women
Industrial Revolution – beginning of re-empowerment of women