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When  geographers  study  the  world  they  employ  a  spa4al  perspec4ve.  They  look  at  phenomena  across  space  to  try  to  explain  what  happened  where  it  did.    It  helps  explain  the  arrangement  and  organiza4on  of  things  on  the  surface  of  the  Earth.    For  example  when  geographers  look  at  levels  of  development  around  the  world  they  might  ask  the  ques4on  as  to  why  some  countries  were  able  to  develop  and  become  successful  and  others  are  stuck  in  what  seems  to  be  a  never  ending  cycle  of  poverty.    They  would  look  at  what  is  happening  in  areas  of  poverty  (ex:  sub-­‐saharan  Africa).    They  may  look  at  the  topography,  poli4cal  issues,  social  issues,  popula4on,  ect.    They  might  then  compare  this  to  developed  countries  (ex:  Europe).  Thinking  across  space  and  analyzing  the  informa4on  gathered  helps  geographers  make  conclusions.      

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Geographers  study  movement  (one  of  the  5  themes  of  geography)  when  studying  interac4ons.    Accessibility  helps  determine  the  ability  for  areas  to  interconnect.    For  example  geographers  may  look  at  accessibility  into  areas  when  studying  why  some  areas  were  more  unlikely  to  develop  compared  to  others.    Geographers  may  also  look  at  this  when  problem  solving.  For  example  there  might  be  a  coastal  fishing  community  that  is  struggling.  Although  they  have  abundance  of  fish  movement  is  limited  due  to  lack  of  accessibility.  There  is  not  a  paved  road  connec4ng  (connec4vity)  the  fishing  areas  to  the  market  or  to  the  airport.    So,  a  logical  solu4on  to  this  would  be  to  build  a  paved  road.  Connec4vity  refers  to  the  quality  of  rela4ons  between  two  or  more  objects  in  space.    

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Distance  requires  effort,  money,  or  energy  to  overcome  (this  is  the  “fric4on”).    This  is  why  spa4al  interac4ons  take  place  more  oUen  over  shorter  distances.    Because  of  this  the  quan4ty  of  interac4ons  will  decline  with  distance.    

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With  distance  decay  we  know  that  as  distance  increases  the  level  of  connec4vity  decreases.    Some4mes  however  new  innova4ons  or  technology  can  change  that  interconnectedness  or  lack  of.    For  example  before  the  computer  how  did  people  communicate  with  each  other?    (answer:  snail  mail).    Because  mail  is  so  slow  informa4on  took  4me  to  reach  far  away  places.    Today  however  the  internet  allows  us  to  be  more  connected  with  those  far  away.    Although  our  world  has  physically  not  become  smaller  it  is  beginning  to  feel  this  way.  Time-­‐space  compression  is  this  increasing  sense  of  connectedness  even  though  the  actual  distance  has  not  changed.  Distance  between  places  is  shrinking  as  technology  allows  for  more  rapid  communica4on.  

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When  looking  at  loca4on  (one  of  the  5  themes  of  geography)  the  idea  of  centrality  comes  about.  Centrality  is  the  strength  of  an  urban  center  in  its  capacity  to  aYract  producers  and  consumers  to  it’s  facili4es.    It’s  a  city’s  “reach”  into  the  surrounding  region.    

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Geographers  have  divided  the  world  into  three  categories;  core,  periphery,  semi-­‐periphery.    Core  areas  refer  to  the  center,  heart,  or  focus.  When  looking  at  an  individual  country  this  could  be  the  areas  with  the  largest  popula4on  clusters.  In  the  US  there  are  mul4ple  core  areas  however  the  northeast  region;  BOSNYWASH  (Boston,  NY,  Washington  DC)  is  a  well  known  core  area.    Core  areas  can  also  be  the  ares  with  the  most  produc4vity.  When  looking  at  the  world  these  could  be  the  regions  with  economic  and  developmental  dominance  (ex:  Europe,  US).    Core  areas  exploit  peripheral  areas  and  peripheral  areas  rely  on  the  core.      

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The  periphery  revers  to  areas  of  lower  areas  development.  Peripheral  areas  generally  have  lower  levels  of  educa4on,  salaries,  and  technology.    They  generate  less  wealth  than  core  process.    If  looking  globally  peripheral  countries  will  be  your  less  developed  countries  (ex:  sub-­‐Saharan  Africa)  

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Semi-­‐peripheral  countries  will  rely  on  the  core  but  also  they  themselves  will  exploit  the  periphery.  Usually  these  will  be  your  developing  countries  such  as  your  BRIC  (Brazil,  Russia,  India,  China)  countries.      

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