Thinking Geographically: Space, Place and Regions

Thinking Geographically: Space and Place

• Space is the Earth's geometric surface, where objects are defined by location and distance
• Activity space is the area used for daily activities
• Place is a humanly important, bounded area; a location's human importance earns it a toponym (place name)
• Regions are a type of place, along with urban areas, workplaces and resource or transportation centers
• Sequent occupancy describes how groups and cultures have succeeded each other throughout a location’s history

Scale

• Scale is how an object or place relates to the Earth as a whole
• Map scale is the absolute ratio of map distance to real-world distance
• Relative scale/scale of analysis refers to the level of grouping for examination
• Scales range from local to global

Regions

• Regions are grouped as formal, functional, or vernacular
• Formal regions are bounded spaces with a similar characteristic or uniformity, such as a common language
• Regional borders differ based on region type
  • Cultural regions have fuzzy borders
  • Political regions have defined borders
  • Environmental regions have transitional, measurable boundaries
• Ecotones are environmental transition zones between two bioregions
• Functional or nodal regions have a central place/node expressing a practical purpose
• Market areas are a type of functional region
• Intervening opportunities are closer attractions taking precedence over more distant ones
• Vernacular regions reflect residents' perceptions and mental maps, varying by individual or group

Location

• Location is defined in absolute and relative terms
• Absolute location uses coordinates such as latitude and longitude
• Longitude at sea was accurately calcuated from the Prime Meridian (0° longitude), running through Great Britain due to British Royal Navy calculations
• The Equator is 0° latitude, while the North and South Poles are 90° latitude.
• Time zones are longitudinal zones, about 15° wide (with exceptions) equivalent to 15° per hour
• Relative location compares a place to familiar locations or features
• Site is the physical characteristics of a place
• Situation is how a place interrelates with other places

Distance

• Distance is measured in absolute and relative terms
• Linear absolute distance uses units like miles or kilometers
• Distance decay explains relative distance using Tobler's Law
  • Tobler’s Law: all locations are related, but closer ones are more related than distant ones
• Friction of distance impacts interaction depending on ease of travel between two locations
• Space-time compression occurs when time and relative distance decreases with Technology, such as transportation or the Internet
• Human-Environmental Interaction is humans impact on environments and vice versa

Spatial Interactions

• Central Places are human hubs, usually for economic exchange
• Walter Christaller's central place theory (1930s) used hexagonal market areas to analyze city locations and economic exchange
• Core and periphery relationships include regional, cultural, economic, political, and environmental aspects
  • CBDs are urban core landscapes while political core landscapes include national capitols
  • Cores do not have to be centrally located

Pattern

• Clustering indicates grouping on Earth's surface
• Agglomeration indicates purposeful clustering around an economic growth pole or central point
• Random patterns lack understandable distribution
• Land survey patterns impact property and political borders
  • Natural features in metes and bounds systems separated properties until the 1830s
  • Rectilinear township and range systems use latitude and longitude
  • Long-lot patterns include narrow road or waterway frontages and long lots

Density

• Arithmetic density is calculated as items per square unit of distance
• Physiologic density measures people per square unit of arable land
• Agricultural density refers to farmers per square unit of arable land

Diffusion Patterns

• Human phenomena has multiple diffusion patterns
• Hearths are the point of origin/innovation
• Expansion diffusion occurs when patterns start at a central point and expand outwards in all directions
• Hierarchical diffusion starts at a first-order location and goes down to second-order locations
• Contagious diffusion begins at a point of origin and moves outwards, especially on transport routes
• Stimulus diffusion involves the diffusion of an underlying principle and creation of new products or ideas
• Relocation diffusion patterns cross physical barriers and relocate elsewhere

Geographic Tools

• Scientific maps result from spatial analysis, or mathematical analysis of quantitative geographic patterns

Types of maps

• Topographic maps display elevation using contour lines plus urban/vegetation surfaces and natural features
• Thematic maps emphasize a subject and not land forms
  • Choropleth Maps show variations using color
  • Isoline Maps calculate data values between points
  • Dot Density Maps use dots to represent volume and density
  • Flow-Line Maps show direction and volume
  • Cartograms use simplified geometries

Mental Maps

• Mental maps are cognitive images of the landscape through one's mind

Map Scale

• Map scale is the "absolute" form of the scale concept
• Linear map scales show distance
• A low ratio scale has a small real number whereas a high scale has a large real number

Projections

• All projections have accuracy levels with size and shape distortion for planet Earth
  • Accuracy is based upon shape and area preservation concepts
• Equal Area Projections maintain relative spatial science, and regions on maps
• Conformal Projections preserve polygon shapes on maps
• Robinson Projections and Goode's Homolosine Projection balance area/form, creating practical representations

Models

• Models abstractly generalize real landscapes that share patterns
  • Spatial models show commonalities among similar landscapes
  • Urban models show similar economic/social structures and spatial relationships
  • Demographic transition models are non-spatial constructing models of growth in populations on national scales, but without geographic space reference
• Gravity models are mathematical estimating migrant flows, businesses influence area or transportation flows

Why Use Models?

• Models depict geographic trends answering theoretical issues and not visible to human eye, enabling changes like cost-to-distance in graphs

Geographical Technology

• GIS (Geographic Information Systems) use one or more data layers used in spatial mapping
• GPS (Global Positioning Systems) use satellites emitting radio, which is measurable
• Geographic data also depends on aerial photography and satellite based remote sensing
• Aerial photographs are images on digital camera/film increased as earth-aircraft images
• Remote sensing satellites' computer scanners record earth-based data

Population Statistics

• Population growth is measured as RNI (rate of natural increase), and demographic equation, which is statistics in immigration & emigration used in birth/death rates

Birth Rate/Natality

• Birth rate, also known as natality, is the crude birth rate (CBR) and an annual statistic
  • Rural agricultural third world countries have high birth rates.
  • Urbanized industrial have low ones
  • Calculation: Live Births/Population x $1000

Death Rate/Mortality

• Death rate also known as mortality is measured by crude death rates for calculations of annual statistics
  • Countries experiencing war, disease, etc. have high rates as poor access to the Green Revolution of sanitation - or medicine
• Calculation: Deaths/ Population x 1000

Rate of Natural Increase

• The rate of natural increase annual percentage population growth - using birth rate minus death rate/10%

Negative RNI

• Population shrinkage with lower birth is in urbanized countries where female roles of raising kids deteriorate

Reduced Fecundity

• Reduced fecundity also occurs, with women in business not being as likely to have children in double income, no Kids households and singular parent, singular children

Doubling Time, Net Migration Rate, Replacement Rate and Dependency Ratio

• Doubling time estimates the amount it takes for countries to double.
  • (70/Natural Increase)
• Net Migration Rates calculate the immigrant emigrant divide/ population each 1000
• Population Growth Rate is the Birth Rate death rate plus that of the net migration