A World of Regions

1. World Regions in Global Context:
Peoples, Places, and Environments (3rd. ed)
Sallie A. Marston, Paul L. Knox,
& Diana M. Liverman
Chapter 1: A World of Regions
Robert M. Arthur

2.  Geography matters
• Global differences in Cultures, Resources,
Capital, Spatial Organization, & Territoriality
 Geographic Study
• Appreciate the variety of the world’s people
and places
• Understand the relationships between the
world’s communities
• Help with regional, national & global
development
The Power of Geography

3.  Geographic Study
• Physical Geography
 Examines how natural forces shape the Earth
• Human Geography
• How human interaction modifies the
environment and the spatial organization of
human activity
 Regional Geography
• Combines both physical & human approaches
• Holistic examination of territories
The Power of Geography

4. Regions
 Region
• Large size territories (such as counties,
provinces, and countries, or large
sections of countries such as the
Midwest USA) that encompass many
places, all or most of which share a set
of attributes that differ from the
attributes of places that make up a
different region.

5. A World of Regions
 Regions are dynamic, changing
• A two-way process of people’s activities changing their
environment and people being affected by their environment
• Created by people responding to the opportunities and
constraints presented by their environments

6. Setting the Boundaries – World Regions

7.  Regionalization
• Classification
 Logical Division
 Grouping
 Homogeneity
 Formal Regions
• High degree of
homogeneity
 Functional Regions
• Characterized by
functional
organization of
human occupancy
The Regional Approach

8. Regions
- Formal
- Functional
- Vernacular

9. Geography & Interdependence
“The tangible
partitioning of space
within which different
processes operate”
 Interdependent
 World Regions
 National States
 Supranational
Organizations

10. Regionalization
 The geographer’s classification of
individual places or areal units
 The geographers equivalent of
scientific classification

11. Boundaries and Frontiers
 Define space, encompass territory.
• Permeable:
 Allow the flow of goods and people across them.
• Impermeable:
 Act as barriers to movement of goods and people.
 Frontier Regions

12. Regionalism & Sectionalism
 Regionalism:
• When individuals begin
to relate stronger to
their region than their
country, then separatist
movements can occur.
 Sectionalism
 Irredentism

13. Geopolitical Framework
Nations vs. States
Ethnic Separatism – Centripetal
vs. Centrifugal Forces
Basques in Spain

14. Globalization
The increasing interconnectedness of the world’s regions.
 Resulting from:
• Technological Factors -
 Advances in communications
 Advances in information handling
 Advances in transportation
• Economic factors –
 Multinational corporations
 Trade associations between countries
• Political factors –
 Supranational governments (EU, NAFTA,
ASEAN, etc)

15. Issues of Scale
 Global to Local
 Example of Call
Centers (Back
Office Jobs)
• Are we in
Nebraska or in
India??
Call Center in Mumbai, India

16. Globalization
 Transnational
Corporations
 Commodity
Chains
 Global
Stratification
• Neo-liberal
Policies

17. Globalization and Population Change
 Unevenly distributed, 3 major areas of high density, China, India &
Europe.
 Near water, oceans, seas, lakes or rivers, temperate, low lying areas with
fertile soils.
 6 billion now, projected to rise to 10 billion by 2050.

18. Demographic Transition Model
 Attempts to link population growth to
Industrial Growth.

19. Population Growth and Change

20. Age–Sex Structure of
Populations

21. Globalization and Cultural Change
 The global spread of common
architectural forms, dress, ‘fast food’,
entertainment, & the English
language.
• These changes do have local character
and are not universal.
• Many local fashions, foods, etc. are
exported around the world, not just
those of the developed world.

22. Diversity Amid Globalization
 Globalization
• Increasing
Interconnectedness
• Human and Physical
Environments
• Continual
Reorganization of
Global and Local
Geographies
Figure 1.0
Contemporary and Traditional
Landscapes in Shanghai

23. Alternative Images of Globalization
Southwestern India
Washington, D.C.
demonstration
Guilin, China

24. Cultural Globalization
McDonald’s in Thailand …
… Linguistic Diversity in Maryland

25. Economic Globalization – Formal
Figure 1.10

26. Economic Globalization –
Informal
Figure 1.6

27. Economic Development,
Technology, and Social Well-Being
 Uneven global distribution of natural
resources and of energy sources
• Favors a few countries while leaving others
disadvantaged
• Political factors important too
 Japan has few resources
 unfavorable conditions (war, civil strife, corrupt
governments, poor infrastructure)
• Technology facilitates the shift of energy and
natural resource inputs to cheaper sources

28. Global Inequities
Figure 1.11

29. Technology Systems
 1790 – 1840:
• Water & steam, textiles, ironworking
• Canals & turnpikes
 1840 – 1890:
• Coal powered steam, machine tools, steel
• Railroads & world-wide shipping
 1890 – 1950:
• Internal combustion power, oil, plastics, electrical
• Aircraft, automobiles, radio & telecommunications
 1950 – 1990:
• Nuclear power, electronics, petrochemicals
• Global air routes, highways
 1990 - ?:
• Solar energy, robotics, microelectronics, biotechnology & IT

30. Economic Sectors
 Primary Activity:
• Natural resource extraction
 Secondary Activity:
• Manufacturing or processing of natural
resources
 Tertiary Activity:
• Sale and exchange
 Quaternary Activity:
• Information processing and handling

31. Economic Development
 Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
• All goods and services produced by a country
in one year
 Gross National Product (GNP):
• All goods, services and income or loss
generated abroad from investments, bank
accounts, etc.
 Measures the overall wealth of a country,
not how that wealth is distributed.
• Divide by the population to give GDP per
capita.

32. Economic Development
Figure 1.47
Figure 1.49

33. Economic Development

34. Social Well-Being
Human Development Index – UN:
Measures distribution of wealth, education, infant mortality, life
expectancy, gender issues & many other factors

35. Social Development – Health and
Education
< Receiving a polio vaccine in Jakarta
Women and Literacy

36. Development & Gender Equality
 Global inequality of female income & attainment
• In many countries women perform most of the work

37. Earth System Science
 Dynamic Processes
 Plate Tectonics
• Continental Drift
• Continental Shield
 Alfred Wegener

38. Plate Tectonics

39. Seasons, Weather & Climate
 Earth’s Orbit
• Axial Tilt
• Equinox
• Summer Solstice
• Winter Solstice
 Weather
• At a specific time &
place
 Rain
 Snow
 Windy
 Climate
• Average conditions
over longer time
frames
 Seasonality
 Monsoons

40. Atmospheric Circulation
 Hadley Cells
• Trade Winds
• Westerlies
• Jet Streams
• Subtropical
Highs
• Intertropical
Convergence
Zone
• Polar Fronts

41. Precipitation
 Convectional Precipitation
• Equatorial
 Orographic Precipitation
• Rising air over mountains

42. Global
Rainfall
&
Climatic
Zones

43. World Ecosystems
 Ecosystems
• Biomes
 Biogeography
• Biodiversity

44. Climate Change
 Natural Processes
• Glaciers
• Volcanoes
• Tectonics
 Human Processes
• Greenhouse Gases
• Carbon Dioxide
• Water Vapor
• Aerosols

45. World-System
 Economic Ties
• Capitalism
• Communism
 Immanuel
Wallerstein
 Interdependent
• Core
• Semi-Periphery
• Periphery
• Consolidation of the
World Economy
• Spatial Justice

46. Organizing the Core
 Division of Labor
• Separation of productive
processes
• Gender division of labor
 Standardization
• Time
• Space
• Measure
• Value
• Money
 Organizes labor
 Facilitates trade
 Supports Industry
 Supports credit

47. National Identities
 Nation
 Nation-State
 Nationalism
 Diaspora

48. Commodification of Nature
 Judeo-Christian View
 Earlier View, Organic:
• Nature as nurturing and chaotic
• Both considered female
 Enlightenment
• Rationalize the nurturing
• Tame the chaotic
 Commodify

49. Organizing the Periphery
 Exploration
 Settlement
 1870s on –
• Growth of colonies
 Leadership Cycles
 Hegemony
• Imperial
Overstretch
 Imperialism
 Colonialism
• Britain
• Germany
• France
• The Netherlands
• U.S.
• Japan
 Carving of Africa

50. Imperialism & Colonialism

51. Imperialism & Colonialism

52. International Division of Labor
 Specialization of regions &
peoples
• Supply the core
• Comparative Advantage
• Non-Competitive
 World Economic
Geography
 International Trade
Routes

53. Exploration & Exploitation

54. U.S. Tribal Lands

55. Discovery or Invasion
 Economic, Political, &
Religious Motives
 Supposed Superiority
of the West
 Transformation and
Destruction of Local
Systems

56. Development Theory
 Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth
• Assumes that poverty and lack of development are the problems
• Also assumes that poor countries need to emulate Western growth
 Developmentalism

57. Neoliberalism
 World Bank
 International Monetary Fund (IMF)
 Structural Adjustment
• Privatization
• Export Production
• Removal of Import Restrictions
• Encourage Foreign Investment
• Reduce Government Budgets
 Food Subsidies, Welfare Programs, Health
Care, Education usually first to suffer

58. Key Factors of Globalization
 New International
Division of Labor
• Decline of U.S. as an
Industrial Producer
• Decentralization of
Manufacturing
Production
• Specializations Within
the Core
 Internationalization of
Finance
• Global Banking &
Financial Markets
• World Cities

59. Key Factors of Globalization
 New Technology Systems
• Energy Technologies
• Manufacturing & Management
Technologies
• Communications &
Transportation
 Time-Space Convergence
 Homogenization of
Consumer Markets
• World Products
• Materialism
• Advertising & Entertainment

60. Key Factors of Globalization
 Transnational Corporations
• Limited Liability Corporations
• Investments & Activities Span International Boundaries
• Exercise of Power Over Peripheral States
• Export of Jobs to Cheaper Labor Markets
 Footloose Companies
 Transnational
Economic
Integration

61. Urban Structure
Seattle and Industry
Contrasts between high
and low income – New Delhi

62. Cultural Diversity
Cultural Collisions … and Hybridization
Figure 1.33
Figure 1.35
Gujarat, India
South Asia

63. Culture (cont’d)
 Cultural
Imperialism
 Cultural
Nationalism
 Cultural
Syncretism or
Hybridization
Figure 1.34a–c

64. Language …
Figure 1.36
Figure 1.37
Dubai, UAE

65. … and Religion
Figure 1.38

66. World Regions in Global Context:
Peoples, Places, and Environments (3rd. ed)
Sallie A. Marston, Paul L. Knox,
& Diana M. Liverman
End of Chapter 1:
A World of Regions