Human Geography Places and Regions in Global Context

Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context, 5 e Chapter 1: Geography Matters Paul L. Knox & Sallie A. Marston Power. Point Author: Keith M. Bell

Geography Matters Geography matters because it is specific places that provide the settings for people’s daily lives. Places and regions are highly interdependent, each playing specialized roles in complex networks of interaction and change. Interdependence between geographic scales are provided by the relationships between the global and the local. Human geography provides ways of understanding places, regions, and spatial relationships. “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than are distant things. ” Connectivity and interaction are dependent on channels of communications and transportation. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Why Places Matter: Geographic Literacy The importance of geography (i. e. , spatial science) is becoming more widely recognized. Many more schools now require courses in geography than just a decade ago. Employers are coming to realize the value of employees with expertise in geographical analysis. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

The Influence and Meaning of Places are settings for social interaction that, among other things, structure the daily routines of people’s economic and social lives; provide both opportunities and constraints in terms of people’s long-term social well-being; provide a context in which everyday, common sense knowledge and experience are gathered; provide a setting for processes of socialization; and provide an arena for contesting social norms. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Spatial Levels or scales of spatial organization represent a tangible partitioning of space. World regions l Asia, Europe, or Latin America Supranational organizations l NAFTA, European Union, ASEAN, World Trade Organization De Jure States l Legally recognized political entities Body and Self l Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Physical appearance and socially acceptable norms Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Geographers at Work International Affairs Locations of Public Facilities Marketing and Location of Industry Geography and the Law Disease Ecology Urban and Regional Planning Economic Development The global credit crunch left the world economy facing the prospect of recession. Security Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Interdependence as a Two-Way Process People develop patterns of living that are attuned to the opportunities and constraints of local physical environment, as shown here in this intensively farmed region in the Chang Jiang (Yangzi) delta, China. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Interdependence in a Globalizing World Globalization is the increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, environmental, political, and cultural change. The Hyperglobalist View Open markets, free trade, and investment across the global markets allow more people to share in the prosperity of the world economy. The Skeptical View Contemporary economic integration is much less significant than it was when the world was on the gold standard in the nineteenth century. The Transformationalist View Globalization is a long-term historical process that is underlain by crises and contradictions that are likely to shape it in all sorts of unpredictable ways. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

The Human “Footprint” Notice that the “footprint” is largely absent in places that are too wet, dry, cold, or hot for wide spread human habitation (e. g. , Places Antarctica, Sahara Amazonia, Siberia). Copyright © 2010 Pearson Knox/Marston: and Regions in Global. Desert, Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc.

Window on the World Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Zug, Switzerland The Sormolo Family of Ethiopia and the Rust Family of Switzerland live “worlds apart. ” One family ekes out a living on $280 a year, while the other thrives on $68, 000. What geographical factors played a role in this disparity? Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Key Issues in a Globalizing World: Sustainability is about the interdependence of the economy, the environment, and social well-being. It is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ” Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Diffusion of HIV Where does the medical and geographical evidence point as the origin of the HIV/AIDS pandemic? Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

The Geography of HIV/AIDS What historical, geographical, and social factors contribute to Sub-Saharan Africa being so stricken with HIV/AIDS? Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Key Issues in a Globalizing World: Security Floral tributes lie outside Edgware Road underground station in London, England, after al-Qaeda bombers killed 49 people and injured 700 during morning rush hour terrorist attacks that were targeted at London’s transport links on July 7, 2005. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Geography in a Globalizing World Will globalization render geography obsolete? Yes? (Why? ) No? (Why? ) The new mobility of money, labor, products, and ideas actually increases the significance of place: The more universal the diffusion of material culture and lifestyles, the more valuable regional and ethnic identities become. The faster the information highway takes people into cyberspace, the more they feel the need for a subjective setting—a specific place or community—they can call their own. The greater the reach of transnational corporations, the more easily they are able to respond to place-to-place variations. The greater the integration of transnational governments and institutions, the more sensitive people have become to local cleavages of race, ethnicity, and religion. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Studying Human Geography Physical geography deals with Earth’s natural processes and its outcomes. Human geography deals with the spatial organization of human activities, and with people’s relationship with their environments. Regional geography combines elements of both physical and human geography. Applied geography: fieldwork, laboratory work, archival searches, remote sensing, and GIS (input, manipulation, analysis, etc. ) Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Remotely Sensed Data: Aerial Photographs Remotely sensed images can provide new ways of seeing the world, as well as unique sources of data on all sorts of environmental conditions. Such images can help explain problems and processes that would otherwise require expensive surveys and detailed cartography. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Studying Human Geography Latitude/Longitude Site/Situation Distance Cognitive Friction Distance-decay function Spatial Interaction Complementarity Transferability Intervening opportunity Spatial diffusion The spatial diffusion of many phenomena tends to follow an S-curve of slow buildup, rapid spread, and leveling off. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Spatial Analysis Like distance, space can be measured in absolute, relative, and cognitive terms. Topological space are the connections between, or connectivity of, particular points in space. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Regionalization The geographer’s equivalent of scientific classification is regionalization, with the individual places or areal units being the objects of classification. Logical division— “classification from above” Grouping—“classification from below” Formal regions Functional regions l Donald Meinig’s core-domain -sphere model of the Mormon region Regionalism Sectionalism Irridentism Copyright © 2010 Pearson Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc.

Ordinary Landscapes: Community Art Community art can provide an important element in the creation of a sense of place for members of local communities. It displays an “ordinary landscape” (or vernacular landscape) in the Mission district in San Francisco. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Symbolic Landscapes: Tuscany Symbolic landscapes represent particular values or aspirations that the builders and financiers of those landscapes want to impart to the larger public, like the neoclassical architecture of the federal government buildings in Washington, D. C. , or the Risorgimento of the classical Tuscan landscape. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

The Power of Place Ireland England The West of Ireland came to symbolize the whole of Ireland to Irish nationalists in the early twentieth century, as opposed to the more bucolic rural landscape ideal of England (its former colonial master). Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Regional Analysis: A Sense of Place Intersubjectivity, or the shared meanings that are derived from the lived experience of everyday practice, is how people become familiar with one another’s vocabulary, speech patterns, dress codes, gestures, and humor. Routine encounters in Waldkirch, Germany develop the sense of place. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Developing a Geographical Imagination It is useful to think of places and regions as representing the cumulative legacy of successive periods of change. This photograph of Milan, Italy, is a very striking example, with modern urban development interlayered with surviving fragments of Medieval, Renaissance, and nineteenthcentury development. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Recognizing the General and the Unique Some places, like Hersbruck, Germany, become distinctive because they were almost entirely bypassed by a period of change. Notice the narrow street and old world architecture. Changes could have come to other towns and cities in the form of the Industrial Revolution or the construction of a new highway or railroad. Thus, the interconnectedness of urban systems is key to integration. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

The Global Perspective Each place, each region, is largely the product of forces that are both local and global in origin. Each is ultimately linked to many other places and regions through these same forces. The individual character of places and regions cannot be accounted for by general processes alone. Some local outcomes are the product of unusual circumstances or special local factors. Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson

End of Chapter 1 Knox/Marston: Places and Regions in Global Context, Fifth Edition Education, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson