The Spatial Perspective

Transcription

1 Department of Geography University of California at Santa Barbara GEOGRAPHY 5 MIDTERM REVIEW SHEET The Spatial Perspective - Review all of chapter 1 carefully except for Box 1.B (but do review Box 1.A and 1.C) - Review page 666 and Fig from chapter 21 - Review section 21.1, Fig 24.3, and Fig 24.9 from chapter 24 Major concepts and emphases: Integrative nature of geography: though geographers specialize (physical, human, regional) they are equally concerned with developing an understanding of system interactions which requires synthesis of the specialist perspectives. * Can you define the subject matter and approach of each of the three specializations? * Can you think of examples from the book or other experience where the systems perspective and an integrative view is the best approach to understanding and resolving a problem? Fundamental spatial concepts: geographers use a core set of concepts that are central to the discipline and cut across the specializations. The concepts emphasized in the first set of lectures include location, space, place, scale, and region. * Can you provide basic definitions of each concept and their variants (location absolute verus relative; scale phenomenon, measurement, map; etc.)? * Could you use the terminology correctly in an essay focused on a particular issue? H/E interactions and the systems approach: a corollary of the integrative nature is a particular interest in human-environment interactions and their representation as interacting systems. * What distinction was made between Haggett s use of environment (broad) compared to my (Sweeney) use of environment (narrow)? * Can you think of clear instances of human-environment interaction of the two varieties: H impacts E and E impacts H? * Can you define, and work with, the terminology of system interactions? (elements, links, boundaries, positive feedback, negative feedback)

2 The Spatial Perspective (cont.) Models in geography: modern geography, and especially geography at UCSB, emphasizes the use of models. * Can you explain why a map is a type of model? Does a map always represent the same type of model? * What are the basic properties of, and terminology used to describe, the globe grid? What is the basic challenge of cartographic projection and how does that relate to the discussion of models in Chapter 1? * Do you understand the realism-abstraction continuum illustrated in Fig. 1.14? * Can you relate the basic discussion of models in Chapter 1 to specific instances of models used to study population geography (lecture and ch.6)? History of geography: geography has a long history rooted in practical concerns (exploration and dominion) but has experienced several paradigm shifts since its inception. * What were the names of some of the early contributors to the discipline and what did they contribute? * What were the major paradigm shifts and what is the dominant paradigm currently (or is there one)? * What is the paradigmatic orientation of UCSB s Department of Geography?

3 Population: Patterns and Processes - Review all of chapter 6 carefully except for Box 6.A, B, and C. - Review as background for lectures (ignore the boxes) - Review 13.1 and 13.3 (up to Ullman model pp. 404) and relate to lectures on migration and gravity model. - Review exponential growth sheet handed out in class and available on the course website. Major concepts and emphases: Population processes and patterns are imbedded in a system (P/D/U/E): population processes give rise to the spatial pattern we observe, and those processes are highly dependent on the local context determined by settlement structure (U), development level (D), and the natural environment (E). * Can you identify and discuss instance of P/D/U/E interaction from the news, examples from class, movies from class of other sources? * What is the nature of the interactions how would you characterize the element, links, and bounds of the system and feedback loops? Human population processes can be characterized as a survival strategy : we are no different than other biological creatures on the earth in that we are dependent on the earth (as a system) and pursue the basic objective of species survival. We differ in that we have large brains capable of: innovations that protect us from the environment, innovations that efficiently harness energy from the environment, and choices that allow almost complete dominion over the planet (for better or worse). * Can you use the space of growth graph (TFR, e o ) to represent and contrast differences among historical populations and current populations. * Can you identify the locations of early human populations, discuss aspects of their societies (cultures, economies, settlement forms), and why we think early inhabitants moved to permanent settlements thus ushering in multi-millenia of accelerating population growth? * Can you discuss the connection between survival strategies in the abstract to their resolution in different places and time periods? For example, why do survival strategies vary from one country to another? * Can you identify regions in the world or in the U.S. that follow certain survival strategies? (from the maps shown in class)

4 Age-dependence is important in demography: age dependence and progression is fundamental to understanding demographic processes. Age-adjusted measures such as TFR and e o are always preferred to unadjusted measures such as CBR and CDR. * How is age-dependence revealed in a population pyramid? Can you provide a basic interpretation of an age-pyramid, discuss the implications for the future, and the historical legacy? * What is the basic interpretation of age-adjusted (e.g. TFR) versus age-unadjusted measures (e.g. CBR) in demography? * Can you interpret survival curves and relate them to an age-pyramid? How might survival curves relate to fertility curves (in a choice context)? Projections, demographic accounts, and demographic transition: we discussed how the four variable model is related to the demographic accounting equation, the use of simple exponential growth projections, and their limitations. * Given any three elements of the four variable model can you derive the fourth? Make sure that you can at least do a forward projection and solve doubling time problems (or tripling time). * What are the assumptions embedded in the exponential growth model? When would they hold and when wouldn t they? Can you relate those assumptions to historical populations and to issues of regional variation? * Can you explain why the demographic accounting equation is a representation of a system. From a geographic perspective, when is the system open and when is it closed? What type of model (on the continuum of realism-abstraction) does the model represent? * Does one form of demographic transition fit every country? If a demographic transition occurs does the exponential model fail? * Why are population projections important? Migration is of fundamental importance in understanding population processes: one of the enduring features of human populations is that they move from one place to another. Thus, all attempts to understand population geographies should proceed from an open system perspective. Throughout history human mobility has increased, not decreased, so it is even more important to current understandings of population patterns and processes. * Can you describe the basic micro- and macro- approaches to understanding human migration? * How is age-dependence expressed in human migration? * What are the basic types of migration as discussed in class?

5 Urbanization and Globalization - Read 8.1, 8.2, Read 14.2, 14.3, Box 14.B, and my notes on rank size distributions - Read Major concepts and emphases: The history of the human population is characterized by accelerating growth and an increasing urban share of the total population. As such, many of the emerging problems related to population increase are also related, through either point source pollution or urbanrural connectivity, to urban areas. The processes and patterns of human settlement systems are an important object of study. * Why do cities cities exist? Are there different processes that give rise to different types of cities? * What is the form of historical urbanization trajectories? Can you explain why such trajectories might be important in the context of development studies? * What are the push and pull factors that reinforce urban growth? Are the same processes at work in developed countries and developing countries? How is the sectoral composition of the economy related to urban growth? * What are some of the problems associated with urbanization? Are the problems the same in developed countries and developing countries? Settlement systems exhibit strong regularity patterns when viewed from space. Those patterns are roughly similar to the forms that emerge from Central Place Theory. The latter is also related to the Rank-Size empirical regularity. * What is the mathematical form of the rank size distribution and what is its interpretation in the economic development context? What might a primate distribution reveal about historical development processes in a country? * How are the concepts of range and threshold related to spatial competition in Central Place Theory? Globalization: the modern world is increasingly contracting both spatially and temporally. Almost all parts of the Earth are linked by global production processes and global financial transactions. * What is the difference between globalization and internationalization? * Can you explain how technology has changed global time and space?

6 * Explain how decisions of a U.S. Multinational Corporation can affect the social, political and economic context of distant countries. * How are global supply chains linked to development? * Do you understand the relationship between Wallertein's Core-Periphery model and Global Cities? * What are global cities? What do they control?

7 Uneven Development, Disease, and Diffusion - Read 16.1 and 16.5, Box 16.C and give careful attention to my lecture notes - Read 18.1 and 18.2, skim the rest of the chapter - Read all of chapter Review additional resources made available on the course website (especially those related to 1918 Influenza pandemic) Major concepts and emphases: Human health and disease in global perspective: the conditions of human health and disease are tightly coupled with urbanization, development processes, and our interactions with the natural environment. How you will die and the disease you are exposed to depends heavily on where you live. Risk is an inherently spatial concept. It is helpful to consider health and disease processes are as global parasitic interaction one in which humans are the most dangerous type of parasite. * Can you describe basic developed country and developing country differences in disease morbidity and mortality? Can you relate those differences to the demographic transition and the epidemiological transition? * Can you relate the concept of risk to mortality and morbidity? Can you work with the concept of risk in a particular application one that relates to your own behavior? Disease emergence and surveillance: Many of our development and health intervention policies at the global scale amount to a natural experiment in disease culturing. Though disease emergence can be partly attributed to improved monitoring, we also promote disease emergence by allowing large population to be exposed to unsanitary conditions with inadequate health care thus allowing natural selection processes to give rise to new disease strains. Biological pathogens will continually adapt to the context provided by human action and inaction. * Can you name some of the new diseases and describe the conditions that fostered their emergence? * What are some of the common features of disease emergence? Diffusion and infectious disease spread: The conceptual framework provided by theories of spatial diffusion are useful in studying disease spread. * Can you describe different types of diffusion processes and classify particular instances of a spatial processes (such as the spread of Walmart or HIV/AIDS) into one of the types? * Can you describe the reasoning underlying SIR disease models and explain how they can be extended into spatial SIR models?

8 * What is the relationship between settlement system structure and disease spread? How do disease waves move through the settlement system? Can you work with the concepts embedded in Figure in Box 16.C? * What are the different types of intervention strategies that can be used to control disease and how should they be informed by the disease etiology and diffusion processes? * Can you use the 1918 Influenza pandemic to work with the concepts of disease diffusion? Uneven development: economic growth and development processes give rise to enduring patterns of wealthy and poor regions. These processes can be seen at multiple spatial scales: inner city versus suburb, poverty regions (Appalachia, Mississippi delta) in the U.S., and country differences. * How can we measure development status? What are the strengths and weaknesses of alternative development indicators? * Can you provide basic descriptions of the development models discussed in class and identify what each theory uses as the core driver of change? * Can you identify development processes, linked to the development models, that operate in a specific country (such as Ivory Coast or Gabon)?

9 Humans and the Natural Environment - Read 9.1,