Meeting 2 Important Theories in Human

Geography

Dr. Brian Doucet

Today

Why do businesses settle where they do?

– Economic Geography

How can we explain and analyse the

hierarchy of cities?

– World Cities

What influences our daily movements

through time and space?

– Time Geography

Where should she locate?

Hotelling’s (1929) Law of minimum differentiation

Linear beach

Even distribution of

customers

Inelastic price

Transport costs

equal

Hotelling’s (1929) Law of minimum differentiation

Maximise market share by locating in the middle location – All competing firms want to be at that location

All different scenarios – sellers come to a central place – works for most businesses – Downtowns

– Shopping malls

– Retail streets – „why are there so shoe shops in one place?‟

Agglomeration effects – Benefits of being in close proximity

– Share networks, resources, markets

Non-geographic applications of Hotelling’s law

Politics: rush towards „middle ground‟

Non-geographic applications of Hotelling’s law

What‟s so different???

Wait a minute…where do they all locate???

They cluster

together!!

Social optimum

Lies elsewhere

Even distribution over space

Requires regulation

– No business will leave optimal location voluntarily

Economic geography

“The challenge for the economic geographer

is how to analyse and explain the

geographical patterns of economic activity at

different scales and how they change over

time…” (Daniels et al., 2008: 295)

What Questions would economic geographers

ask?

Threshold Population

The number of people needed to sustain a particular business or activity. Take the population of a place and divide by the number of businesses of a particular activity

Hypothetical example City of 100,000 people – 100 convenience stores (threshold pop. 1000)

– 50 dry cleaners (threshold pop.

– 10 banks

– 5 high schools

– 3 electronics stores

– 2 cinemas

– 1 department store

Question

In Indonesian cities, what are some

businesses and services with a very low

threshold population (i.e. there are a lot of

them!)?

What are some businesses and services with

a very high threshold population?

Do these vary between different cities,

urban/rural?

– i.e. is there a geography to these amenities?

Starbucks

Starbucks

There are 12,973 Starbucks in the United

States

– That‟s one Starbucks for every 24,365 Americans!

Threshold Population for a Starbucks

– 24,365

Starbucks

Manhattan

– 1,600,000 people

– 212 Starbucks

One Starbucks for

every 7,500 people

Detroit

– 700,000 people

– 3 Starbucks

One Starbucks for

every 230,000

people

What can you do in the places you are from?

Buy a newspaper

Buy a shirt or shoes

Deposit money in a bank

Go to primary school

Buy a new television

Go to the cinema

Buy a car

Go to university

Buy a Ferrari

Opel versus Ferrari in the Netherlands

156 Opel dealers in the Netherlands

– Threshold population ~100,000

2 Ferrari dealers in the Netherlands

– Hilversum and Hengelo

– Threshold population ~8,000,000

Sources: www.autovind.nl

Neoclassic location theory

Who? Van Thünen, Christaller When? 19th century – 1970s What? Economic activity is aimed

at getting most favourable competitive position; actors are fully informed and take rational decisions to maximise profits

Main determinant: Distance Where? Economic activities on most central location

Criticism? Unrealistic assumptions, other factors need to be taken into account

Behavioural location theory

Who? Potter, Edwards, Hayter & Watts

When? 1980s-1990s

What? Economic activity determined by aspirations/ desires/ behaviour of entrepreneur; actors do not have perfect information – outcomes are sub-optimal

Main determinant: individuals

Where? Economic activities on well-known, reliable location

Criticism? Too descriptive/limited to individuals; no attention for general (economic, social, cultural, political) processes

Structuralist location theory

Who? Massey & others

When? 1980s-now

What? (holistic approach) – Firms work within a capitalist society in which production is

a social process between capital and labour, rather than individuals

– Theory rather than empirically based: Changes in economic conditions affect requirements for production which impacts requirements of economic activity at a given location

Determinant: behaviour is shaped by wider economic, social and political processes

Where? Economic activity at variable locations

Criticism? No real model

Question:

After finishing university, do many graduates from Yogyakarta move to Jakarta to look for work and build a career?

Who leaves the countryside/periphery of Indonesia in search of work in Jakarta? – If so, why?

What is a World City?

What makes a city a Global City?

What are world cities?

The hub points in the global network (Short & Kim, 1999)

According to Friedmann (1986):

– Basing points in the spatial organization of production and markets

– Sites for the concentration and accumulation of international capital

– Centres of corporate headquarters etc.

– Points of destination for migrants

– They constitute a world wide system of control over production

Friedman and Wolff: not based on population size: that is a consequence of their ec and pol.

Friedmann and Wolff – What are World Cities?

Chief economic functions: management, banking, finance, legal services, accounting, consulting, ICT, international transportation, research and higher education

Real estate, construction

Hotels, restaurants, luxury shopping, entertainment

International tourism

Government services

Informal economy (linked to immigration)

World City Hypothesis (WCH)

John Friedmann (1986): spatial

organization of the new international

division of labour (NIDL). 7 theses:

1. City‟s integration within world economy and city‟s

function within NIDL is decisive for any internal

structural changes

2. Key cities are „basing points‟ of global capital linked

within a complex spatial hierarchy

World City Hypothesis (WCH)

3. Global control functions of WCs are directly reflected in structure/dynamics of their production sectors/employment

- Corporate HQ, finance, information, news culture - Polarisation of workforce is evident

4. WCs: sites for concentration/ accumulation of international capital

5. WCs: destination for large numbers of domestic/ international migrants

6. World city formation brings into focus major contradictions of industrial capitalism (global, regional, metropolitan polarisation)

- Polarisation on three scales: national, regional, metropolitan

7. WC growth generates social costs that exceed fiscal capacity of the state

“Space of flows” (Manuel Castells)

The global city is not a place but a process

Information technology changed the world: technology is a facilitator of global city development

World cities are strategically important places in a network

Global cities house the management elite

Places can be “connected” or “disconnected”

Clustering, segregation and congregations of people

Question:

Why might there be more polarisation in

World Cities?

Congregation

Territorial and residential clustering of specific (sub) groups of people

Advantages: – Means of cultural preservation

– Minimises conflict and provides defence against „outsiders‟

– Mutual support

– Power base in relation to host society

But: not always voluntary

Social exclusion

Exclusion of people from the accepted norms

within a society (economically, politically,

socially culturally).

Relative concept → linked to society (not

being able to participate in „average‟

activities)

Poverty, but also lifestyle-induced

Spatial segregation

Congregation + discrimination = segregation

Spatial separation of specific population subgroups within a wider population

Forms of segregation:

– Ethnic enclaves

– Ghettos

– Colonies

Measures: Dissimilarity index, poverty areas

Polarisation

Social polarisation: a process in which: – The number of rich people increases

– The number of poor people increases

– The number of middle-income households declines

From the egg to the hourglass (Marcuse)

Also applicable to education

Social inequality – Poor become poorer

– Rich become richer

Question:

How did you come to class today?

– Write down the exact route you took, which

methods of transport, what you did along the way

Why did you take this route?

– Think about different opportunities and constraints

– (not just why you came this way, but why not

something else?)

Time Geography

Hägerstrand 1970

Understands people through uninterrupted

paths through time and space

3D aquarium of an individuals movement

3D prism of potential movements

Everything in the world is understood through

a „movement‟

Time Geography

The paths people take are influenced by three CONSTRAINTS

1. Capability Constraints – Biological, mental, instrumental limitations and

affordances

2. Coupling Constraints – The necessity for people and things to come together

at certain times and locations for joint activities

3. Authority Constraints – Regulations of access to places through social rules,

laws, financial barriers and power relations

What are some examples of these constrains in your daily travel?

Capability Constrains

Coupling Constrains

Authority Constrains

Expanding on Classical Time Geography

The role of emotions and experience

The role of gender/ethnicity/lifestyle

The role of climate and weather

The role of the internet and ICT

– You can be in two places at once! (though not

physically, of course. That is still impossible)

Different meanings of travel

Not just a means of getting from A to B

Combining activities

– (time fragmentation)

Embodied experiences of travel

– How emotions influence our travel behaviour

– McQuoid and Dijst for the ways in which low-

income women experience travel

Travel as status symbol

Returning to Brian’s trip to work!

15 minute bike ride from home to Den Haag

Centraal Station

39 minute train ride from Den Haag to

Utrecht (709 train, runs every 15 minutes)

5 minute walk to my bike parked near Utrecht

Centraal Station

15 minute bike ride to the university

Total: 90 minutes!

Returning to Brian’s trip to work!

No car – capability constraint

Long commute – quick routes – Cycling faster than the tram/bus

Classes start at 9am – coupling constraint – 709 train gets me in at 815 – time to prepare,

account for delays

Cycling – Fast, exercise (16km per day!), time to think

(emotions), „I‟m in control‟ (no coupling constraints waiting for the bus)

Brian’s trip to the train station

Cycling

Route(s) taken:

– Fast! (coupling constrain – 709 train is very

early!)

– (most routes are quiet at 645am so traffic not an

issue)

– Rain or wind: seek a more sheltered route (but

always cycle)

Authority constraint – rules of where to park your bike

Combining Activities while travelling

Return trip home

Return trip

Busier – more cars and pedestrians

(Authoritative constrains – not allowed to cycle

on shopping streets during business hours)

A lot more cars so it‟s less safe on some routes

(pick a route with bike paths)

Other activities (pick up groceries on the way

home)

– Constraint of not having a car means shopping almost

every day

Why don‟t I have a car

– Preferences, conveniences, lifestyle, networks

– Individual centred (Time Geography)

Why don‟t I need a car?

– Structure, context, planning, regulations,

economy all set up in a way that owning a car is

not necessary for me

– Structural approach

The role of ICT

But…

– Only have to teach a few days a week (coupling)

– 3 hour commute (round trip)

– Family at home (645am – 1830 away)

– Internet at home and access to university library

Result…