Hg 6e ch_01_lecture

Chapter 1 Lecture
Human Geography: Places and
Regions in Global Context
Sixth Edition
Wendy A. Mitteager
State University of New York, Oneonta
Geography Matters

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
Key Concepts
• Geography Matters
• Place Matters
• Geographic Tools
• Spatial Relationships
• Regional Analysis
• Geographical Imagination
Figure 1.3 Influence of
place in a center city
neighborhood, Boston
Apply your knowledge: Why would a corporate
employer value knowledge of geography in prospective
employees?

Geography Matters
• Increasing geographic interdependence of the world
• Instant global communications
• Rapidly changing international relationships
• Environmental degradation
• Places and Regions
Figure: Chapter 1 Opener Protesting rising food prices in Maputo, Mozambique

Figure 1.1 Destruction caused in
Japan by the March 2011 tsunami
Figure 1.2 Quality of life is impacted
by this petrochemical plant in
California
Places Matter
• Geographic Literacy
– Lack of geographic understanding and
knowledge among Americans
• Places are dynamic and complex

Places Matter (cont’d)
• Emotional and cultural symbols
– Graceland (Memphis)
• Ordinary places with special meaning
– Childhood neighborhood
• Sites of innovation, change, conflict
Figure 1.4 Anti-government demonstrators flood Tahir Square, Cairo,
Egypt on February 11, 2011

Human Geography
• Spatial organization of human activities
• Relationships between people and their environments
• How and why relationships are important
• Geographers solve a variety of problems on scales from
local to global
– Marketing, GIS, international affairs
Figure 1.A Urban planners examine a model of a new town near Stuttgart, Germany

Geographic Methods and Tools
• Observation representation analysis
models
• Qualitative and Quantitative data
• Remote sensing
• Maps
– Social products
– Map Scale
• GIS
– Military to private sector Figure 1.5 Landsat satellite image:
Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD
area

Figure 1.6 Topographic map of Lugano,
Switzerland. Scale of 1:25,000 with 20
meter contours
Figure 1.7 Isoline map of
precipitation for the continent of
Africa
Geographic Methods and Tools, (cont’d)

Figure 1.9 Located charts are generated by combining
graphs, charts, or symbols with base maps

Figure 1.15 Lines of Latitude and Longitude provides a grid pattern on the Earth

Figure 1.11 The Robinson projection:
distance, direction, area, and shape are all
distorted
Figure 1.12 The Peters projection:
controversial “Europeanization” of Earth
Map Projections
• Systematic rendering of the Earth’s surface onto
a flat surface
• Equidistant, Conformal, Azimuthal, Equal-area
– Distortion of distance, direction, shape, area

Map Projections, (cont’d)
Apply your knowledge: Describe different scenarios that illustrate
situations in which the use of different projections would be appropriate.
Figure 1.10 Comparison of map projections

Figure 1.14 Cartogram
demonstrating spatial inequality of all
people living on US$10 or less a day
Figure 1.13 GIS technology used to map
land cover
Maps and GIS

Census data combined with commercial data for market research in NYC
GIS Applications
• Geodemographic research

Spatial Analysis
• Location
– fixed coordinates of latitude and longitude
– GPS
• Site and Situation
– Physical attributes and relative location
Figure 1.16 Denver, Colorado is a major center for cable TV because of site
and situation

Figure 1.17 Detail of Washington DC
depends on this person’s experiences and
perception
Spatial Analysis, (cont’d)
• Cognitive images (mental maps)
– Based on perception and experience

• Space
– Absolute or relative
– Cognitive space
– Topological space
(connectivity)
• Distance
– Absolute or relative
– Cognitive distance
– “Everything is related to
everything else”
– Friction of distance
– Distance-decay
Apply your knowledge: Provide examples of the inhibiting effect distance has
on human activity

Figure 1.18 Metro map of Milan, Italy is a
topological map showing connectivity
between points in the city.
• Accessibility
– Opportunity for interaction
– Proximity
– Distance and connectivity
– Airline hub cities are more
accessible than other cities

• Spatial Interaction
– Movement and flows
of human activity
– Places can
complement each
other
– Transferability
– Spatial organization of
activity is continually
changing
– Time-space
convergence
Figure 1.19 The effects of changing
transportation technologies, “shrinking”
the world

• Spatial Interaction
– Intervening
Opportunities
determine the volume
and pattern of
movement and flows
• Spatial Diffusion
– The way things spread
through space and
over time
– Expansion diffusion
– Hierarchical diffusion
Apply your knowledge: Referring to spatial analysis concepts, discuss a
national or international environmental issue. Relate complementarity,
transferability, intervening opportunities, and diffusion.

Figure 1.21 The Mormon cultural region
Regional Analysis
• Regionalization
– Functional regions
– Regionalism
– Sectionalism
– Irredentism

Figure 1.22 Landscapes can be symbolic of
national identity as this landscape in Tuscany
has for Italy
Figure 1.24 Picturesque landscape in England
emblematic of the nation even though much
change has occurred
Regional Analysis, (cont’d)
• Landscape
– Ordinary and Symbolic
– Many layers of meaning

Figure 1.25 Routine encounters in
Italy help develop a sense of community
Figure 1.26 Community art helps create a sense
of place in San Francisco
Regional Analysis, (cont’d)
• Sense of Place
– Insiders and lifeworld
– Intersubjectivity
Apply your knowledge: What are the most distinctive characteristics of
your region? Describe the landscape and the sense of place.

Figure 1.27 This German town was once a
prosperous regional center, but now is
isolated and economically disadvantaged
Geographical Imagination
• Allows us to understand geographic change
• Places and regions represent the cumulative
legacy of successive periods of change
– General effects and unique outcomes

Figure 1.E “SoFi” was redeveloped with
exclusive, resortlike condominium towers
and became a playground for the young
and affluent.
Figure 1.D South Beach, Miami embodies
the layered legacy of successive waves of
development and change. Art Deco
architecture reflects the past.
Geographical Imagination, (cont’d)

Figure 1.28 The consequences of the unprecedented
shift of relative wealth and economic power from West to
East are highly uncertain.
Future Geographies
Apply your knowledge: What are the likely future changes to the
geography of your region?

End of Chapter 1

Hg 6e ch_01_lecture

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Hg 6e ch_01_lecture

More from Lisa Schmidt

Hg 6e ch_01_lecture