Key Issue # 3 – Why are Different
Places Similar?
• 3 Basic Themes explain spatial similarities:
1. Scale (Globalization – 2 kinds)
2. Space (Distribution – 3 concepts)
3. Connections (Diffusion – 3 kinds)
Scale: From Local to Global
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“Think Global, Act Local” (
)
“Think and Act Both Global and Local”,
Leaf 1, Renault
Globalization
Economic “Globalization”– process resulting from
modern forms of connections, i.e. television,
telephone, car
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the scale of the world is shrinking
world is more uniform, integrated, and interdependent
“Everybody depends on everybody else”
Global recession caused by “housing bubble” in the U.S.
transnational / multinational corporations connect raw
materials to producers to consumers across the globe
• increased regional specialization leads to increased
interdependence; spatial division of labor, i.e. Research
Triangle and Silicon Valley
• International banking and the instantaneous transfer of
money contribute to economic globalization
• “economic divergence” – places in the world are
becoming more and more different in the economic role
they play in the global economy. SPECIALIZATION
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Cultural Globalization
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uniform landscapes of material artifacts and cultural
values – “cultural convergence”
Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Disney,
Starbucks, etc.
Religion and language / Christianity and English vs.
Islam and Arabic
Local beliefs and traits threatened with extinction
resulted in religious fundamentalism and terrorism
Most conflict in the world results from struggle between
forces of cultural globalization and desire to preserve
local identities – Global vs. Local
How does globalization
(convergence) happen?
Connections Between Spaces
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Spatial Interaction – when places are connected to
each other through a network
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Modern transportation and communication have increased
the speed and frequency of spatial interaction
Transportation networks use “hub-and-spoke” systems to
transport people and things
Where interaction is limited there exist barriers (physical
and cultural)
Distance is the greatest barrier – distance and interaction
are inversely proportional – distance decay and friction
of distance
Electronic communications have removed most barriers –
“the death of geography”
Actually geography matters even more – communications
requires connectivity
Space-time compression
Diffusion – process by which characteristics spread
across space from a point of origin
1. Place from which an innovation originates is called a
hearth
2. Relocation Diffusion – spread of an idea through
physical movement of people from one place to another
(migration)
3. Expansion Diffusion
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Contagious – rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic
throughout a population with uniform coverage
Hierarchical – spread of an idea from persons or nodes of
authority or power to people or places of lesser importance
Stimulus – the spread of an underlying principle rather than a
specific trait of characteristic
Wal-Mart – Contagious & Reverse Hierarchical
Culture hearths – point of
origination or innovation,
from which culture diffused.
The map beautifully shows just how incredibly
connected the world has become – not only via
telecommunications but also by physical mobility –
and how even the remotest regions are now closely
tied to the urban sphere. More than 50% of the world
is less than 1 hour from a major city. Less than 10%
of the world is more than 48 hours from a large city.
Hub-and-spoke
transportation systems
create functional regions
Space: Distribution of Features
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“Why are people and activities distributed
across space as they are?”
Time : history :: space : geography
Distribution – arrangement of things in space
expressed in density, concentration, and
pattern
1. Density – frequency of something in space
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arithmetic density – total # of objects in an area (population)
physiological density – people per unit of arable land – if its
high then a country may have trouble feeding its population
agricultural density – # of farmers per unit of farmland – if its
high a country has inefficient agriculture (labor intensive)
2. Concentration - extent of feature spread over
space
– clustered – close together
– dispersed – far apart
3. Pattern – geometric arrangement of objects in
space
– linear – houses, buildings, subway stations
– rectangular – city blocks (grids), townships,
ranges, sections (p.11,13)
– circular – rural and urban land use
» Von Thunen’s Rings (p.350)
» core-periphery model
» Central place theory (p. 406, 410)
» Models of urban development (p. 439)
How has population
distribution (concentration)
changed from 1900 to 1997?
Dispersed
RURAL
Clustered
URBAN
What “story” does this map tell?
URBANIZATION
DISTRIBUTION
Low density
Dispersed
High density
Dispersed
High density
Clustered
back
clustered
dispersed
back
Hierarchical diffusion
Key Issue #4 – Why Are Some
Human Actions Not Sustainable?
• Sustainability – using the earth’s resources
(renewable and non-renewable) in ways that ensure
the availability for future generations
• 3 Pillars of sustainability:
– Environmentally friendly – “green”
– Economically viable – feed profit incentive
– Socially responsible – promotes high quality of life for all
• What can you do to BE sustainable?
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Reduce, reuse, recycle
Conserve scarce resources
Consume alternative energy
Be a “new American consumer”