andresen geog100 week1 lecture1

8/2/2019 Andresen Geog100 Week1 Lecture1

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Geography 100Society, Space, Environment: Introducing Human Geography

Prof. M.A. Andresen

Saywell Hall10207

[email protected]

http://www.sfu.ca/~andresen/

778 ± 782 ± 7628

Office Hours: Mondays 130 ± 220pm; Thursdays 1030 am ± 1120

am; by appointment



Your Textbook Knox/Marsten/Nash. Human Geography:

Places and Regions in Global Context .

Third Canadian Edition, Pearson.

Other editions?



Course StructureOne 3-hour lecture (Wednesdays)

We do have some classes cancelled

Reading week (15 February)

14 March (Conference)



Evaluation for the course 5 components: 2 exams and 3 written assignments

Midterm exam: 22 February 2012

No make-up exams!!

Final exam: 17 April 2012 (Tu 7:00PM - 10:00PM)



Exams Multiple choice

True/False



Written Assignments Based on key terms listed in textbook

Explained in the course outline

Later in today's class will be dedicated to

the details of this assignment



Questions?



Lecture OutlineStudying Human Geography

Basic Tools

Fundamental Concepts of Geography

Why Places Matter

The Influence and Meaning of Places

The Interdependence of Places

The Interdependence of Geographical Scales Interdependence as a Two-Way Process

Continued



Lecture Outline (continued)Why Geography Matters

Geography and Exploration

Interdependence in a Globalizing World Geography in a Globalizing World

Geography in Canada

Pre-Confederation

1870s to 1930s: An Immense Task 1930s to Present: A Geography Truly Our Own

Geographers at Work



Chapter 1: Main Points Human geography provides ways of understanding

places, regions, and spatial relationships as theproducts of a series of interrelated forces that stem

from nature, culture, and individual human action.

The first law of geography is that "everything isrelated to everything else, but near things are morerelated than distant things."

Distance is one aspect of this law, but connectivityand direction are also important, because contact,interaction, and direction of travel are dependent onchannels of communication and transportation.



Chapter 1: Main Points Geography matters because specific places provide

the settings for people¶s daily lives. It is in thesesettings that important events happen, and it is from

them that significant changes spread and diffuse.

Some of the most important aspects of theinterdependence between geographical scales areprovided by the relationships between the global and

the local .



Chapter 1: Main Points Places and regions are highly interdependent , each

filling specialized roles in complex and ever-changingnetworks of interaction and change.

This matters for the nature of our economy, our socialrelations, and our political realities



Studying Human GeographyPhysical Geography

Physical geography deals with Earth¶s natural processesand their outcomes.

Human Geography Human geography deals with the spatial organization of

human activity and with people¶s relationships with theirenvironments.

R egional Geography

R egional geography is the study of the ways in whichunique combinations of environmental and humanfactors produce territories with distinctive landscapesand cultural attributes.



What is different about geography? Not necessarily the subject matter, but the questions are different

Economists ask: why do countries trade?

Geographers ask: with whom (where) do they trade?

Sociologists/demographers ask: why do people immigrate?

Geographers ask: where do people immigrate to?



Fundamental Concepts of

Geography R egion

Location

Distance

Space

Place

Accessibility

Spatial interaction

Scale



R egions The concept of the ³region´ is used to

distinguish one area from another.

R egions are distinguished on the basis of specific characteristics, or attributes.



R egions R egions minimize the variation of the chosen attribute

within their boundaries and maximize the variation of thatattribute between themselves and their neighbouringregions.

R egions can be defined on the basis of any attribute orcombination of attributes.

Consequently, regional boundaries change when thedefinitional attribute changes

A trade region may be (and likely is) different from aninvestment region



R egionFormal region

One that is uniform in terms of specific criteria

Functional region

An area that literally functions as a unit, economically oradministratively, and is usually organized by transportroutes focused on a dominant city

Vernacular region

The local region as identified by the region¶s owninhabitants



Location Nominal

Expressed in terms of the names given to regionsand places

Absolute Fixed mathematically through coordinates of

latitude and longitude

R elative Fixed in terms of site and situation

Changes temporally (time of day/year/etc.)



Latitude and Longitude



Global Positioning System (GPS)

A system of satellites that orbit Earth onprecisely predictable paths, broadcasting highly

accurate time and locational information

Many of you may have these in your car

They have been found to set off a ³crime wave´ because of their value



Site and Situation Site

The physical attributes of a location ± its terrain, soil,vegetation, and water sources, for example

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places andhuman activities

We do ³this´ here and ³that´ over there even though thesite may be described as the same or similar



Cognitive Images

Cognitive images, or mental maps, are psychological

representations of locations that are created from

people¶s individual ideas and impressions of these

locations.

But not just locations, our entire awareness and activity

spaces

We know some places very well and others not-so well

Our cognitive maps then have holes in them



A Cognitive Image of Montreal



Distance Absolute distance

Distance as expressed as an absolute physicalmeasure (e.g., in kilometres or miles).

R elative distance

Distance as expressed in terms of time, effort, orcost.



Distance Social distance

The distance (in social space) between socialgroups.

Cognitive distance

The distance that people perceive to exist in agiven situation.



Distance The importance of distance as a fundamental factor in

determining real-world relationships is a centraltheme in geography.

It was once described as the ³first law´ of geography: ³Everything is related to everything else, but nearthings are more related than distant things.́



Distance Distance affects people¶s behaviour. The farther people

have to travel, the less likely they are to do so. If you live on campus (forgetting about cost, for the moment) why

travel down the hill for groceries when we have a store up here?

Friction of distance

The deterrent or inhibiting effect of distance onhuman activity

Distance-decay function The rate at which a particular activity or phenomenon

diminishes with increasing distance



Distance-Decay Function



The importance of direction Despite its importance

We are actually quite poor at estimatingdistance

We do tend to be quite good at directionthough



...direction We tend to have a directional bias in our travel

behaviour

Try to go the ³wrong way´ somewhere

It is very difficult...you must justify it (less times, less

effort, etc.)

Because of the nature of our built environment we tend

to have specific journeys to work, school, crime, etc. that

has directional bias



Topological Space The connectivity of people and places is often

important: whether they are linked together, howthey are linked, and so on.

These attributes of connectivity define a special kindof space known as t o pologi cal s pac e.

Topological space The connections between, or connectivity of,

particular points in space



Topological Space



Cognitive Space Space defined and measured in terms of

the nature and degree of people¶s values,feelings, beliefs, and perceptions about

locations, districts, and regions.

Can be described in terms of behaviouralspace ± landmarks, paths, environments,

and spatial layouts.



Place A concept with two levels of meaning:

1) an obj ec tive location that has both uniqueness

and interdependence with other places

2) a subj ec tive social and cultural construct ±somewhere that has personal meaning for

individuals or groups



Place Making

Any activity, deliberate or unintentional,that enables space to acquire meaning



Place and a metaphor

One of the best metaphors for understanding the concept of place

is to think of it as a flag

There are objective markings and colours: the Canadian flag is red

and white with a maple leaf on it

There are subjective meanings: the emblems of the US flag have

cultural significance to Americans

But there is also a temporal component: the context of places

changes throughout the day, days, weeks, months, and years

The flag blowing in the wind catches this temporal changes



Accessibility The opportunity for contact or interaction from a given

point or location in relation to other locations.

Accessibility is often a function of economic, cultural, andsocial factors.

Therefore, it varies from place to place

This has consequences that geographers are interested in



Spatial Interaction All kinds of movement and flows involving

human activity.

People, goods, money

Principles of spatial interaction:

Complementarity

Transferability Intervening opportunities

Spatial diffusion



Spatial Diffusion One of the most important aspects of

spatial interaction is spatial diffusion, theway that things spread through space andover time.



Spatial Diffusion



Patterns of Spatial Diffusion

Expansion, R elocation, and Hierarchical diffusion



Diffusion of the HIV-1 virus



Scale The general concept:

that there are various scales of analysis(local, regional, national, global);

that they are linked; and

that processes operating at one scale canhave significance at other scales.



Why Places Matter

Geographic knowledge is importantbecause the world is increasingly

characterizedb

y: instant global communications

unfamiliar international relationships

unexpected local changes

growing evidence of environmentaldegradation



Why Places Matter

Places are dynamic, with changingproperties and fluid boundaries that are the

product of the interplay of a wide variety of environmental and human factors.



The Influence and Meaning of

Places Places exert a strong influence on people¶s

physical well-being, their opportunities,and their lifestyle choices.

Places contribute to people¶s collectivememory and become powerful emotionaland cultural symbols.

Places are the sites innovation and change,of resistance and conflict.



The Influence and Meaning of

PlacesPlaces are settings for social interaction that:

structure the daily routines of people¶s economicand social life

provide both opportunities and constraints interms of people¶s long-term social well-being

provide a context in which everyday,commonsense knowledge and experience aregathered

provide a setting for processes of socialization

provide an arena for contesting social norms



The Interdependence of Places Most places are interdependent , each filling

specialized roles in complex and ever-changing geographies.

This interdependence means that individualplaces are tied into wider processes of

change that are reflected in broadergeographical patterns.



The Interdependence of

Geographical Scales

In today¶s world, some of the mostimportant aspects of the interdependence

between geographical scales are providedby the relationships between the global and the local scales.



Interdependence as a Two-Way

Process

Places are dynamic phenomena.

Places are not just distinctive outcomes of geographical processes; they are part of the processes themselves.



Interdependence as a Two-Way

Process There is a continuous tw o-w ay pr oc ess in

which people create and modify placeswhile being influenced by the settings in

which they live and work.

Place making is always incomplete and

ongoing, and it occurs simultaneously atdifferent scales.



Interdependence in a Globalizing

World Today, in a world that is experiencing rapid

changes in economic, cultural, and politicallife, geographical knowledge is especially

important and useful.

The study of geography provides an

understanding of the crucialinterdependencies that underpin allpeople¶s lives.



Globalization G lobal iz ati on is a process and a

condition that involves the increasing

interconnectedness of different partsof the world through commonprocesses of economic,environmental, political, and cultural

change.



Will globalization

render geography obsolete?Far from it. In fact:

The more universal the diffusion of material culture

and lifestyles, the more valuable regional and ethnicidentities become.

The faster the information highway takes people intocyberspace, the more they feel the need for asubjective setting²a specific place or community²they can call their own.

Continued



Will globalization

render geography obsolete? (continued)Far from it. In fact:

The greater the reach of transnational corporations,

the more easily they are able to respond to place-to-place variations in labour markets and consumermarkets and the more often and more radically thateconomic geography has to be reorganized.

The greater the integration of transnationalgovernments and institutions, the more sensitivepeople have become to localized cleavages of race,ethnicity, and religion.



Geographers at Work Canadian geography graduates are employed in a

wide range of occupations.

The skills that geographers possess are varied andinclude the abilities to integrate data from both the

physical and social sciences, to use statistics, and towrite.

A human geographer can work in: Urban Planning

Teaching Public Administration Marketing and Location of Industry Non-Governmental Organizations Environmental Impact Analysis

andresen geog100 week1 lecture1

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