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Chapter 1: Major Geographic Concepts
Geographic PatternsSpatial arrangement of a given phenomenon.
Political Boundaries
Infrastructure
Ethnic Distribution
Population
Agriculture
Urbanization
Cultural Differences
• The actions that bring about particular patterns.
• Processes necessarily have a temporal component, i.e. they occur over time.
• In human geography, processes tend to be probabilistic rather than deterministic.
• May be multivariate and multiscalar.
Processes
Urban GrowthThe growth of Lawrence:
Changes in Migration
Environmental Changes
The Aral Sea in Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan
Refers to where something exists using a reference systemAbsolute Location
Latitude and Longitude
Lines of Latitude run East to West
Lines of Longitude run North to South
Latitudinal and Longitudinal Coordinates for Lawrence:
38° 58' 18" N, 95° 14' 17" W
Location in relation to other places or within a specific spatial context
Relative Location
Douglas County, KS
“Suburbs”
“Ghetto”
From the Textbook (pg. 7):
"While geographers occasionally discuss absolute location, particularly if working with global positioning systems or as part of a project in mapping, human geographers are much more comfortable with relative location. At the heart of geography is the issue of how some geographical phenomena relate spatially to other geographical phenomena and what this means."
Place & SpaceWhat the textbook says (pg. 8):
"Place has very different connotations, depending on how it is used. A place can be something that is quite objective, representing a series of attributes found at a fixed location. This kind of place is usually named."
"...Places are considered to be points, with zero dimensions. On the other hand, spaces are considered to be areas. Spaces have two dimensions and include a number of places within them. While overall “space” may itself be boundless, individual “spaces” have edges of some sort. They might not necessarily be strictly bounded—although very often they are—but they are usually demarcated in some way."
These definitions don't quite get to the main point, though...
Place:A location distinguished by certain attributes and characteristics that form a particular meaning attached to this location. Places can be universally recognized as such and be identified by name (i.e., "Kansas," "Lawrence," "Lindley Hall," etc.), or simply constructed as place through personal meaning (your room, your favorite spot on campus, etc.).
Space:A (usually) two-dimensional area that acts as a "container" for a given phenomenon, activity, action, pattern, or process. Spaces often encompass large areas, but can exist at any scale. Spaces can be clearly bounded and/or demarcated, or their boundaries can be only vaguely defined.
Some Better Explanations:
Consider the difference between these two phrases:
"I need a place to work" "I need space to work"
Spaces aren't necessarily bigger than places. Space can exist within a place, and vice versa. For example, this square in Kyiv, Ukraine is considered a "public space" within Kyiv...
...Which is located within what is commonly referred to as the "Post-Soviet Space."
Place can be established at any geographic scale, and is the summation of all the meaning we attach to a given area or location either as a society, or individually.
When we discuss spaces, we often define or qualify them as certain kinds of space, or spaces designated for specific phenomena, activities, etc.
Spaces of Commerce
Sacred Spaces
Spaces of Learning/Education
Green Spaces
Place and Space are therefore both multiscalar, overlapping, and "nested" within one another. Often they can both define the same given location. How we determine place and space depends on how we want to characterize a given area or location and its relationship to human activity.
ScaleIn geography, scale refers to the spatial extent to which we chose to focus our presentation, discussion and/or analysis of a given phenomenon, pattern, process, activity, or action.
When using a map, scale refers to the ratio of the distance on the map to that which it represents in the real world.
1:100,000 → 1 inch on the map = 100,000 inches in the real world
Small scale:Large area but with little detail
Large scale:Small area but with lots of detail
Human Geographers tend to focus their study on a number of useful scales that are defined by human activity, such as political or cultural boundaries and territories:Local Scale State Scale Regional Scale
National Scale Global Scale
Which scales we choose to focus on will greatly determine what kind of observations we make.
Per Capita Income in the USA: $41,663
Per Capita Income in Loudoun County, Virginia:$115,574
Per Capita Income in Buffalo County, South Dakota:
$5,213
Kansas:
Mitt Romney: 59.71%Barack Obama: 37.99%
Douglas County:
Mitt Romney: 36.8%Barack Obama: 60.5%
2012 Presidential Election Results
Keep in mind that, like space and place, scales are not discrete or mutually exclusive. They can be overlapping or interconnected. They do not need to be formal territories either; scale is merely a tool used to focus our inquiry on a specific geographic location or area.
Mapping Spatial DistributionsThere are many methods used to map data in order to show their inherent geographic qualities. These are usually called Thematic Maps. They are generally used to show the distribution, flow, or connection of one or more characteristics or phenomena across space.
This map doesn't really tell us anything useful...
Each incident of a given phenomenon is displayed as a point within some geographic area
This type of thematic map can be used to find patterns – more specifically, to show whether a distribution is dispersed or clustered
Point Pattern Maps
Physician John Snow created a point pattern map in 1854 to visualize the distribution of cholera cases during an outbreak in London, and used it to determine the source of the outbreak and prevent further illness.
Bike Crashes in San Francisco
Point pattern maps can also be used to show patterns of space similarity in order to view trends. Here we see that textile towns tended to be located along rivers or on the coast, which is explained by the fact that access to water was required for automated textile manufacturing.
Point pattern maps can also be used to show patterns of spatial interaction or spatial connectivity. This map of Afghanistan and Pakistan reveals the relationships of cross-border terrorist networks by plotting individual incidents of and information about terrorism across the region.
Choropleth MapsShow the quantity or type of phenomena by territory or region – usually by coloring each with a different color or pattern to represent different values – in order to reveal broader spatial patterns.
Countries' GDP per capita
Changes in Russia's population
Choropleth maps can reveal very different things depending on what scale you use.
Diabetes rates by state, 2007
Diabetes rates by county, 2007
Isoline MapsShow areas with similar characteristics connected by lines and bands. Usually used to display physical characteristics such as topography (changes in elevation), they can also be used to display human geographical data.
Crime in Manhattan
Reduction of Travel time from New York to the rest of the US
Flow Maps
Show the direction and volume of movement of people, goods, money, etc. between different locations
The volume of movement is typically shown by the width of the arrows in a flow map.
DistanceIn simple terms, it is an expression of the space between different objects and the time it takes to travel between them, but there are different ways of conceiving of distance:
Absolute or Euclidean Distance: The actual geometric length of a straight line drawn between two objects ("as the crow flies").
Travel Distance: The length of the route that must actually be traveled between two objects. Depends upon physical geography, transportation technology, and infrastructure. The amount of time needed to travel between two objects is known as the friction of distance.
Cognitive Distance: Distance as it is perceived by subjective observers. It is influenced by a person's own knowledge, experience, and perspective.
Distance DecayAs the distance between two objects increases, the degree of interaction between them decreases. This concept can be applied to many things, but will typically follow the same geometric curve:
RegionsRegions are a way of subdividing space into categorizable geographic units. Regions characterize broad spaces that share some common characteristic or attribute, or which are connected by a certain process, theme, or perception. As with space, place, and scale, they may be overlapping and interconnected.
Formal RegionsRegions that consist of spaces and places that share one or more commonly recognized and often institutionalized attribute, whether it is defined historically, politically, agriculturally, linguistically, culturally, etc. These regions may often have some sort of functional meaning, such as political cohesion or internal cooperation.
This map shows the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which may be considered a formal region as these countries operate together for their own mutual benefit.
"Corn Belt" "Wheatbelt"
"Cotton Belt"
Linguistic Regions of the World
Functional RegionsRegions constructed out of places that interact, or are connected through processes and human activity.
This diagram shows the space and all the places within which an individually might perform their normal tasks and activities on a regular basis, and how they are connected to each other to form a functional region of those activities.
Functional region around Lynchburg, VA.
Vernacular RegionsInformal regions that people construct in their own mind or that societies construct within their common imagination. Because they are generally not formalized, their boundaries can be very ambiguous and contentious.
The South is a well-recognized vernacular region in the US, as there are certain historical and cultural qualities that distinguish it from the rest of the country. However, there is no consensus on which states truly belong in the South. Depending on whose perspective you take, there are many states which may or may not be included.
Where is the Middle East, exactly?
Where is Siberia, exactly?
LandscapeLoosely related to region, though referring specifically to the assemblage of sensed elements (mainly visual) that come together in a given place or space and how they reflect and represent both the natural environment and human activity, and the interaction between them. We can speak about the landscape of any given place, space, region, and they can exist at any scale. We can talk about a landscape whether or not we can view it all at once.
Ordinary / Vernacular LandscapesThose that we encounter on a regular basis and reflect certain aspects of our daily experiences. These landscapes help us understand the culture and ways of life of the people who inhabit them.
Iconic LandscapesThose that contain iconic or symbolic representations associated with a particular place or type of place. They are closely linked to identity, and may reveal efforts to foster nationalism, project power, elicit certain beliefs or sensibilities, and persuade peoples' opinions.
Interior LandscapesThose that occur within buildings, homes, or other structures. They too can reveal important things about a society or culture.
