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GEOG 200: Human Geography Spring 2012 Instructor: Bimal Kanti Paul. Over the past several decades there has been a significant reconceptualization of culture that draws on the following three attributes: Culture is a social creation that reflects
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GEOG 200:Human Geography Spring 2012 Instructor: Bimal Kanti Paul
Over the past several decades there has • been a significant reconceptualization • of culture that draws on the following • three attributes: • Culture is a social creation that reflects • diverse economic, historical, • political, social, and environmental • factors
2. Culture is dynamic (i.e., subject to • change) • 3. Culture is a complex system • 4. Culture is learned, and • 5. Culture is representative ofgroups
THINKING LIKE A HUMANGEOGRAPHER • Place • A localitydistinguishedby specific • physical, social, and cultural characteristics • Each place has its unique location on the • earth’s surface – absolute location, or • position as well as its site and situation
-Location is the first and most • important characteristic of a place • - Location gives us clues about • many other characteristics of a • place • Siterefers to the physical characteristics • (e.g., soil, climate, topography, water • sources, and elevation)of a place
Situation refers • to the location • of a place relative • to other places • Sense of place • means the • subjective and • emotional • attachment • people have to a specific place
Space • Space refers to either a bounded or • unbounded area • Absolute space refers to an area whose • dimensions, distances, directions, and • contents can be precisely measured • - This concept dominated until about • the 1960s
Relative spacerefers to space that is • created and defined by human interactions, • perceptions, or relations between events • Resembles a network of linked nodes - • based on trade or social interactions • Absolute and relative space often overlaps
Spatial perspectiverefers to the location, • distribution, or pattern of phenomena/ • places • Spatial variation: Changes in the • distribution of a phenomenon from one • place or area to another
Spatial association: • The degree to which • which two or more • phenomena share • similar distribution • (e.g., poverty and • crime rates)
Distribution: The arrangement of • phenomenon on or near the Earth’s • surface
Spatial Diffusion • The spread of a phenomenon across space • over time • Anything that brings people together • enhances the possibility that a phenomena • will spread • It may occur rapidly or slowly, depending • on the circumstances
Two broad types: Expansion and Relocation • Diffusion • Expansion Diffusion: The spread of • innovations within an area in a • snowballing process, so that the total • number of adopters becomes greater and • the area of occurrence grows
Spreads within a locationally-fixed • population Bentonville, AR
Expansion diffusion is affected by the • friction of distance, efforts, and energy • (and money) of traversing space • Because of the resulting distance decay, • diffusion tend to lose strength over • distance
The expansion diffusion may result from • one of the three processes: • 1a. Stimulus Diffusion: When a specific • trait fails to spread but the underlying • idea or concept is accepted • Example: McDonald in India sells • vegeburger instead of hamburger
1b. Contagious Diffusion: The spread of • an element by person-to-person contact • This type of diffusion takes place when • there is close personal contact between • actual and potential adopters of the • innovation • Its name derives from the pattern of spread • of contagious diseases, such as influenza
Nearly all • adjacent • individuals • are • affected
1c. Hierarchical Diffusion: Spread of innovations from one important person to another or from one urban center to another, temporarily bypassing persons and centers of lesser importance Examples: A new style of clothing or new hairstyle, first run movies, and Christianity in the Roman Empire
2. Relocation Diffusion: The spread of an innovation through physical movement of an individual or group who carries that innovation from once place to another
Christianity in the New World • Spread of English and French to North • America • The popularity of pizza and Chinese food • around the world • SARS from China to Toronto
Spatial Interaction and Globalization • Spatial interaction refers to the • connections and relations that develop • among places and regions as a result of • movement or flow of people, goods, • ideas or • information
Edward Ullman used the term spatial • interaction in 1954 • For him, the study of geography was • synonymous with the study of spatial • interaction • According to him, three factors influence • spatial interaction
Complementarity: A situation in which • one place or region can supply the demand • for resources or goods in another place • or region • - Spatial interaction as a result of • complementarity can involve short • (homes to a gas station) or long • distance (between two countries)
Complementarity stems from spatial • variation • An economy of scale (the reduction in • the average production cost of an item) • provides a place/country an advantage • towards complementarity
Transferability: The cost of • transporting a good and the ability of • the good to withstand that cost • - High transferability - high value goods • that are not bulky (gold and diamond) • - Low transferability – low value, bulky • goods (e.g., timber and hay) • - Affected by the friction of distance
Intervening opportunity: A situation in • which a different location can provide • a desired good more economically • than another location • - Helps reconfigure the flows and • relations between places • - Closely associated with accessibility
Distance decay: The tapering off of a process, pattern, or event over a distance
Time-space convergence: The process by which places seem to become closer together in both time and space as a result of improved communication that weaken the barrier or friction of distance
Waldo Tobler: “[E]verything is related • to everything else, but near things are • more related than distant thing” – Tobler’s • first law of geography • It highlights the principles of distance • decay and friction of distance • Time-space convergence highlights the • importance of relative distance
Geographic Scale • Scale has two meanings in geography: • - The distance on a map compared • to the distance on the earth • - The territorial extent of something • (local, regional, national, and • global)/level of analysis
Map or Cartographic Scale: The ratio of distances on the map to distances on the Earth Observational or methodological scale: The level(s) of analysis used in a specific project or study
Verbal scale Ratio scale Fractional scale 1/63,360 Graphic scale
Largest Area Least Detailed Smallest Area Most detailed