Intro to Human Geography

It’s Nature and Perspective

Geographic Questions:

• Where are things located?

• Why?

• How are places related?

• How are places inter-connected?

• How are humans affected by these locations?

“THE WHY OF WHERE!!!”

Definition of Geography• scientific and systematic study physical &

cultural features of the earth’s surface.

• spatial perspective looking at patterns and distributions

• Invented by Greek scholar: Eratosthenes

-Geo – “Earth”

-graphy – “to write”

• Human (or Cultural) Geography: study of the spatial differentiation and organization of human activity on the earth’s surface.

• how we organize space and society

• where & why human activities are located

THE REGIONAL APPROACH

• Regional (Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia)

Latin America

Sub-Saharan AfricaSoutheast

Asia

Five Themes of Geography

• Location• Place• Region• Movement • Human-

Environment

Location

Location-position on the earth’s surface

Absolute Location: latitude and longitude; street address

Relative Location: a way of expressing a location in relation to another site

Site & Situation

Site-the physical character of a place

Situation– the location of a place relative to other places

Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.

PlacePlace: physical location with physical & cultural attributes

sense of place: infusing a place with meaning and emotion.

Where Pennsylvanian students prefer to live

Where Californian students prefer to live

Perception of Place

The Cultural Landscape • visible expression of human activity

• natural landscape modified by human activities

• Can also be called the “Built Environment”

Religion and cremation practices diffuse with Hindu

migrants from India to Kenya.

Sequent OccupanceDar es Salaam, Tanzania: African, Arab, German, British, and Indian layers to the city

Apartment in Mumbai, India Apartment in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Spatial analysis: the study of geographic

phenomena on the earth’s surface

- how are things organized on Earth?

- how do they appear on the landscape?

- Why of where? and so what?

the SPATIAL:

1. Distance2. Accessibility3. Connectivity

Distance Decay

•interaction between places diminishes frequency as distance between them increases

closer = more interaction

Distance Decay

Friction of distance

Farther people have to travel…less likely they are to do so.

place utility: a place’s usefulness to a particular person or group

Accessibility

“How easy or difficult is it to overcome the friction of distance?”

Connectivity

•Level of interaction

•channels of communication & transportation

Ex: Telephone Lines, streets, pipelines, radio, TV, internet

Ullman’s Spatial Model of Interaction

1.Complementarity:

supply & demand between places

2. Transferability: ability to acquire item

3. Intervening Opportunity:

alternative locations for activities between two points

Diffusion

- Dissemination or spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas

What prevents diffusion?- time-distance decay- cultural barriers

1. Expansion Diffusion: spreads outward from the heart

a. Contagious – spreads adjacently

b. Hierarchical – spreads to linked people or places first

c. Stimulus – foreign idea promotes a local change

Stimulus

Diffusion

Ex:

Because Hindus believe cows are holy, cows often roam the streets in villages and towns. The McDonalds restaurants in India feature veggie burgers.

2. Relocation Diffusion: permanent movement of individuals who carry an idea or innovation with them

Kenya

Paris, France

Spatial Distribution

•elements common to all spatial distributions :

Density, Dispersion, & Pattern

Density

•The measure of the number or quantity of anything within a defined unit of area

Dispersion

•Spread of a phenomenon over an area

•How spread out?

1. Clustered (Agglomerated) = spatially close together

2. Dispersed (Scattered) = spread out

Pattern

•The geometric arrangement of objects in space

•Types of Patterns:

Linear, Clustered, & Random

Linear Pattern

•typically depict houses along a street or towns along a railroad

Clustered Pattern

•typically involve items concentrated around a single node

•Ex: Center City with surrounding suburbs

Random Pattern

•An unstructured irregular distribution

Types of Regions

1. Formal (Uniform) region: defined by a commonality, typically a cultural linkage or physical characteristic

Ex: German speaking region of Europe

2. Functional (Nodal) region: defined by a set of social, political, or economic activities or interactions

Ex: an urban area, magazine circulation, radio station, downtown CBD

3. Perceptual (Vernacular) Region: ideas in our minds that define an area of “sameness” or “connectedness.”

Exs:

the Souththe Mid-Atlantic

the Middle EastChinatown

Little Italy

The meanings of regions are often contested. In Montgomery, Alabama, streets named after Confederate

President Jefferson Davis and Civil Rights leader Rosa Parks intersect.

Region v. Realm

• “Realms” are larger, and often encompass several regions

Ex:

The “Muslim World”

1. Globe Grid: based upon latitude-longitude coordinates

latitude lines (parallels) – decrease in length closer to poles

longitude lines (meridians) – converge at the poles

* scale on Earth’s surface is same everywhere

2. Map Projections: making a flat map of a round surface

* All maps distort the globe grid properties

 

World Geographic Grid

The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude. The prime meridian (0º) passes through Greenwich, England

Planar Projection

(Azimuthal)

Cylindrical Projection

Conic Projection

The Robinson Projection

Two Types of Maps:

Reference Maps

- Show locations- Geographic

features- Absolute locations

Ex: street maps

Thematic Maps

- “Tells a story”- Data attributes- Pattern, distribution,

movement- Relative

locations/features

Reference Map

Thematic Maps • Thematic Maps: a map depicting a

specific spatial distribution or statistical variation of abstract objects in space

TYPES:

Graduated Circle

Dot-Distribution

Isopleth (isolines: weather, topographic maps)

Choropleth (by region: county, state)

Thematic Map

What story about median income in the Washington, DC area is this map telling?

Graduated Circle Map

• Uses circles of different sizes to show the frequency of occurrence of a certain topic

Dot-distribution Map

• A single of specified number of occurrences are recorded by a single dot

Isopleth Map

• Calculation refers to an areal statistic

• The isoline connects average values per unit

Examples of topographic maps (shows elevation through contour lines)

                             

                             

Choropleth Map

• Present average value of the data studied per preexisting areal unit

Which is the small-scale map?

City of Edmonton

Neighborhood in Edmonton

Small scale: more area, less detailLarge scale: less area, more detail

E. Mental maps (“cognitive” maps)

mental maps: representations of our own image of the world

Activity Spaces: the places we travel to routinely in our rounds of daily activity.

– How are activity spaces and mental maps related?

Geographic Information System

(GIS):

a collection of computer

hardware and software that permits storage

and analysis of layers

of spatial data.

Remote Sensing: a method of collecting data by instruments that are physically distant from the area of study.

Scale- local- regional- national- global

What is occurring across scales provides context for us to understand a phenomenon.

Scale

Measuring Spatial Interaction

i. Distance Decay (“the friction of distance”)

ii. The Gravity Model

(size & distance affect interaction)

 

iii. Movement Biases (distance, direction, & network bias)

distance decay: the decline of activity with increasing distance from the point of origin

• inverse-square relationship (j-curve)

voluntary migration: people have a choice to move or stay

reluctant migration: less than fully voluntary, but not forced

forced migration: imposed relocation by one group over another causing “refugees”

Refugee Exs.: - any economic migrantany economic migrant- 75 million people from Europe to

Americas (1835-1935)- Indonesia: resettlement from

overcrowded Java

E. Ravenstein’s “Laws of Migration”

1. short distance

2. step by step

3. rural to urban

4. each flow produces a counter flow

5. Most international migrants are young males

D. Migration Patterns

Step migration: smaller, less extreme moves

Ex.: farm to village—to small town—to major city

Chain migration: an established linkage or chain for future migrants (creates a “migration field”)

– Migrants provide information, money, place to stay, a job for other family/friends

Channel migration: clear pathways & travel routes are established

- Ex.: The Oregon Trail

““Guest Workers”Guest Workers”

- have short term work visas

- send remittances to home country

Remittances

• Money sent back to home country by immigrants