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Introduction to Geography: Economic Geography

Introduction to Geography: Economic Geography. Geography 1010 6-10 February 2006 Ian MacLachlan http://people.uleth.ca/~maclachlan/. What is economic geography?.

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Introduction to Geography: Economic Geography

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  1. Introduction to Geography:Economic Geography Geography 1010 6-10 February 2006 Ian MacLachlan http://people.uleth.ca/~maclachlan/

  2. What is economic geography? • “Economic geography is the study of how people earn their living, how livelihood systems vary by area, and how economic activities are spatially interrelated and linked” • Getis, Getis and Fellman, p. 355 • Empirically based: to understand what we see and measure in the real world • Theoretically based: generalization and modelling of processes and spatial diversity

  3. Economic Geography Week • It’s about Time! • Geography of Prime Meridian and time zones • Politics of Prime Meridian and time zones • Telling time • Regional Economic Structure • Categories of Economic Activity • Economic Sectors • Regional Economic Development • Micro scale • Macro scale

  4. What was the key machine of the modern industrial age? Watt’s steam engine Stevenson’s locomotive Jacquard loom Whitney’s cotton gin Colt revolver & interchangeable parts Ford Model T & assembly line

  5. What was the key machine of the modern industrial age? The clock, not the steam engine, is the key machine of the modern industrial age. • Lewis Mumford Technics of Civilization

  6. World Scale Time Zone Map

  7. Solar Time • Apparent local time • Centred on solar noon • Egyptians divide day and night into 12 equal parts • Temporal hours – unequal • At Thebes, summer solstice, June 21 • Daytime temporal hour was 69 minutes • Nighttime temporal hour was 51 minutes • March 21 & September 21 – temporal equality • Hipparchus: 24 equal “equinoctial hours” c. 127 BCE

  8. Solar Time • Temporal hours until 15th century • London • Hour ranges from 38-82 minutes • Mechanical clocks appear c. 1270 CE • Apparent solar time varies from place to place • Apparent length of solar day varies in length through the year • Mean time introduced by nineteenth century • Celestial adjustment to sun time • Time balls

  9. Nelson's Monument on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill, visible to ships on the Firth of Forth, 1852. Commemorates Admiral Lord Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

  10. Where should time begin? • Any arbitrary meridian could be chosen as origin • Prime Meridian, Royal Greenwich Observatory

  11. Where does time begin? • Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) • Solar day varies… • Celestial time became basis for ‘mean time’ • Zulu time (zero hours) ± n • UTC = Coordinated Universal Time, 1928 • Atomic clocks • Earth’s rotational speed may be measured • Leap seconds have been added

  12. Geography of Time Zones • Prime Meridian is basis for UTC • UTC is origin of time zones: UTC ± n • E.g. Mountain Standard Time is UTC-7 • Centered on meridians: multiples of 15° • 360°/24hours = 15° time zones in theory • Adjacent time zones usually one hour apart. • But… • one hour separation is not universal (India UTC+5:30) • shape and longitudinal extent vary

  13. Politics and Science! • ‘Science-based’ decisions are also… • Political decisions based on economic conditions, social relations, and technological change. • Geometrically rational time zones = 15° • Geographically rational time zones: • Time zone boundaries arranged to coincide with boundaries of human interaction patterns • Need to reach consensus – politics

  14. Politics of Time • Until 1800s, solar time was adequate • High-speed railway transportation • Telegraph and telephone communications • British railways started using GMT in 1847 • Multiple reference meridians: • Greenwich, Paris, Rome, Copenhagen, Oslo, Pisa, Jerusalem, St. Petersburg, Washington, Philadelphia • World system of time zones proposed by Sir Sandford Fleming, 1873

  15. International Meridian Conference, 1884 • delegates from 25 nations • Agrees on Greenwich as 0° • 24 hour day • Longitude measured as 180° east and west of Greenwich • Who abstained? • Did not agree until 1911!

  16. The Time Zone System • Canada established time zones in 1891 • Provinces may adjust as local needs require • Most countries accepted time zones by 1929

  17. Canadian Time Zonesin theory Empirical reality is a little different…

  18. 110°W 102°W

  19. Exceptions by Local Agreement Source: H. David Matthews and Mary Vincent “It's about TIME”Canadian Geographic http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/SO98/geomap.asp

  20. World Time Zones

  21. How to Tell the Time? I • We are in Lethbridge. What time is it in Winnipeg? • Lethbridge is UTC-7, Winnipeg is UTC-6 (-6)-(-7)=1 • Winnipeg time is 1 hour ahead of Lethbridge • Suppose we are in Shanghai. What time is it in Paris? • Shanghai is UTC+9, Paris is UTC+1 (1)-(9)=-8 • Paris time is 8 hours behind Shanghai

  22. How to Tell the Time? II • Suppose we are in Washington D.C. What time is it in Sydney, Australia? • Washington is UTC-5, Sydney is UTC+11 (11)-(-5)=16 • Sydney time is 16 hours ahead of Washington • Suppose we are in Bangkok. What time is it in Honolulu? • Bangkok is UTC+7, Honolulu is UTC-10 • (-10)-(7)=-17 • Honolulu time is 17 hours behind Bangkok • Daylight Saving Time UTC+1 • But DST depends on latitude and • Local preferences e.g. Saskatchewan, Arizona, Hawaii

  23. Daylight Saving Time • World War I • Sommerzeit 1916 • British Summer Time 1916 • U.S. & Canada Daylight Saving Time 1918 • World War II • British Double Summer Time • U.S. Uniform Time Act of 1966 • Urban – rural division

  24. Daylight Saving Time • 1974 OPEC oil embargo • Nixon experiment, year-round DST • 1986 – extra month of DST • $150 million for barbecue industry • $200-400 million for golf industry • Savings in lighting cost • Added cost in petroleum for daylight driving in longer evenings • No saving in energy use! • See Michael Downing, Tufts University Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Savings Time

  25. Daylight Saving Time • 2007 U.S. will spring ahead the second Sunday in March, three weeks earlier than now. Additionally the clocks will fall back the first Sunday in November, one week later than the current standard. • 2007 Alberta’s Daylight Saving Time Act, • Will conform to U.S.

  26. Time and Space Themes • Time may be defined and measured scientifically • But the map of time is a human creation • Political decision – social process • Depends on spatial patterns of human activity • Technology change – social process • Time is money!

  27. Introduction to Regional Development • Structure • Growth • Structural Change • Development

  28. Regional Economic Structure • Shift from time to space: case study • Coalhurst • Heuristic • Structure • Growth • Development

  29. Structure • “the way in which parts are arranged to form a whole” • Structure as a framework • Structure as a nested hierarchy • Economic structure • Classification of regional economy into sectors • Measure their size (count, employment, value) • Describe components of the structure

  30. Commercial Structure of a Service Centre: The Economic Geography of Coalhurst • Town of Coalhurst: 1,493 in 2004 • Services: • 1 post office • 1 elementary school • 1 high school • 1 bar/restaurant • 1 Royal Canadian Legion • 1 gas station and convenience store • 1 specialized lumber distributor • 1 manufacturer of cement lawn ornaments

  31. Is Coalhurst Growing?

  32. Is Coalhurst Developing?Commercial Structure of Coalhurst in 1989 • Town of Coalhurst: 1,289 • Services: • 1 post office • 1 elementary school • 1 high school • 1 bar/restaurant • 1 Royal Canadian Legion • 1 gas station and convenience store (new) • 1 convenience store • 1 specialized lumber distributor • 1 manufacturer of cement lawn ornaments A different kind of regional structure…

  33. Coalhurst’s Demographic Structure, 2003

  34. Suppose Coalhurst were to Grow... • Town of Coalhurst: 1,493,000 • Services: • 1,000 post offices • 1,000 elementary schools • 1,000 high schools • 1,000 bar/restaurants • 1,000 Royal Canadian Legions • 1,000 gas station and convenience stores • 1,000 specialized lumber distributors • 1,000 fountain manufacturers • What would be missing?

  35. What have we learned from Coalhurst? • Experienced distinction between growth and development • Calculated growth rates • Structure in the context of economic geography: • Commercial structure • Little change between 1989 and 2004 • Demographic Structure • Family-oriented • Slow growth but no evidence of structural change • How can this community be sustainable?

  36. Understanding locations in space:Site and Situation • Site - absolute locational concept • Physical characteristics • Economic and cultural attributes • Situation – relative locational concept • External relationships with other places • …location relative to other features • Markets • Services • Employment

  37. How Can We Understand the location of Coalhurst? • Site: Undifferentiated prairie • Shallow coal deposit • Coal mine closed in 1936 • Situation: 10 minutes from Lethbridge • Suburban satellite of Lethbridge • Employment • Shopping • Services • Residents choose Coalhurst for its lack of development • Dependency relationship is an asset

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