2. OBJECTIVE
Research the discipline of Economic Geography, its
contributions to the separate concentrations individually
and its public policy implications.
5. HISTORY
Spatial Aspects of Economic
Activity
Mercantilism Story
Cartography advances inspire
confidence to travel and engage in
economic activity around the world
6. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
- LITURATURE
Ellsworth Huntington Alfred Weber Fred K.
Schaefer
Early 1900’s
Climatic
Determinism:
First mention
of geographic
elements
having an
effect on
1930-1950
Industrial
Location
Theory:
Beginnings
of a Central
Place Theory
1953
Exceptionalism in
Geography: A
Methodological
Examination.
Started a
Geographic
revolution to
reinvent the
discipline as a
science using
empirical research.
7. APPROACHES TO STUDY
Theoretical Economic Geography:
Builds theories about spatial arrangement and distribution of
economic activities.
Regional Economic Geography:
Deals with economic regionalization and local economic development
Historical Economic Geography:
Historical development of spatial economic structures.
Critical Economic Geography
“New Economic Geography”
Behavioral Economic Geography:
Focus on individual cognitive processes underlying spatial
distribution of economic decision making.
8. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
TODAY -
(1970-PRESENT)
Marxist Political
Economy
- Championed by
geographer David Harvey.
- Focus on Urban
Geography and Sociology
- Class struggle, criticism
of Capitalism, “Right to the
City”
“New Economic
Geography”
- Focus on Sptial Modeling
- Emphasizes the spatial
relationship between social
and economic behavior.
Key Ideas include;
Industrial Clustering, the
Digital Divide
Globalizations effect on
International Development
10. CASE STUDY: CENTRAL
PLACE THEORY
Introduced by Walter Christaller in 1933
Attempts to explain the size, nature and spacing of cities
as central places supplying goods to the surrounding
population.
Aggregate economic decisions expressed spatially
11. CLASSIFICATION OF
GOODS
Relative Scale from “lower order” to “higher order”
Lower Order Goods:
Consumed more frequently
Lower relative Range
Ex: Groceries, Schools, hairstylists
Higher Order Goods:
Consumed less frequently
Broader Range
Ex: Universities, Medical Specialists
12. RESULT OF ORDERED
GOODS
Centers of various sizes will pop up, providing the goods
consumers demand (Threshold and Range)
Convenience Stores on every block
Distribution of Shopping Centers
Higher order goods, broader range.
13. IMPORTANT TERMS AND
ASSUMPTIONS
Threshold: the minimum population required to support
a given function.
Range: Maximum range a consumer will travel to
purchase a good.
Based on the distinction between Centers and Peripheries
14. ASSUMPTIONS OF
THEORY
Study Area will include:
Limitless Surface
Evenly Distributed Population
Evenly Distributed Resources
Perfect Competition and utility maximizing
individuals
“All settlements are equidistant and exist in a
triangular lattice pattern.”
16. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH:
- Snohomish County Washington
- Develops the ideas of Threshold and Range
- Monroe, WA
- Population - 17,510
- Great Northern Railway
18. WHAT MIGHT SKEW THE
CENTRAL PLACE
DISTRIBUTION?
According to Johnston and his study of central places in
Melbourne factors not included in the theory affect the
layout of urban centers. Such as…
Age
Purchasing Power
Population Density
- May skew the distribution of urban centers towards a certain age,
income, or density.
19. INFLUENCE OF
ECONOMIC STATUS
Greater Mobility with Higher Economic Status
May bypass lower order centers for higher order centers
with more goods and options.
Sufficient Densities/ Populations
Lower order goods can be sustained with smaller
population densities.
20. EXTENT OF MARKET
AREAS
Land Use
Ex. Industrial Areas provide little for consuming population
Manhattan Island
Accessibility
Poor accessibility limits market area
Rocky Mountains
Competition
Limits Extent of Market in all directions
Higher Ordered Centers have greater pull
Philadelphia, New York, -- MEGALOPOLIS
Technology
Higher mobility, overlapping market areas
Air Travel
21. ECONOMIC
GEOGRAPHY:
Strives to employ a holistic approach to spatial economic
phenomena.
Economics as a discipline tends to homogenize the world
in which the economic experience is taking place.
Ignoring the regional and often unique social differences
Economists often miss these factors that stem from
geographic uniqueness.
22. IMPLICATIONS TODAY;
WHAT MAKE ME HIRABLE…
GIS Skills-
Economic geography has expanded the use and acceptance of GIS
software in the marketplace. From Frozen Food Delivery to
Department of Transportations worldwide, GIS is at the forefront of
software in the marketplace. You will get a candidate well versed in
the most up to date ESRI GIS software with real world project
experience.
Tourism-
1 Billion international tourists in 2012
Independent; Engaged, Enthusiastic; Honest;
23. POLICY IMPLICATIONS
“New Towns”
Wilfred Burns
Three-tier system of ordered goods
City Center, district center, isolated shops
Higher Lower
25. WORKS CITED
Berry, Brian J. L. “Geography of Market Centers and Retail
Distribution’ Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Inc., 1967.
Golledge, R. G., Rushton, G., and Clark, W.A.V. “Some Spatial
Characteristics of Iowa’s Dispersed Farm Population and Their
Implications for the Grouping of Central Place Functions.” Economic
Geography. 42. (1966), pp. 261-72
Goss, Anthony. “Neighborhood Units in British New Towns.” Town
Planning Review. 32, pp. 66-82
Johnston, R. J. “The Distribution of an Itermetropolitan Central
Place Hierarchy.” Austrailian Geographical Studies. 4. (1966), pp.
19-33
Nader, G. A. “The Shopping Potential of Washington New Town: A
Critical Reassessment.” Journal of the Town Planning Institute. 54,
pp. 386-92
Peterson, D. A. “Market Areas of shopping Districts.” Journal
American Institue of Planners. 29, pp. 297-301.
Thomas, Edwin N. “Some Comments on the Functional Bases of
Small Iowa Towns.” Iowa Business Digest. 1960, pp. 10-16
