Download Lecture 1 - Department of Geography, HKU

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Human Geography
Introduction
I.
What is human geography?
II. Why human geography?
III. How to study human geography?
“Geo”
: surface of the earth
“graphei” : description, mapping,
explanation
地 : surface of the earth
理 : reasons, logic, law, regularity,
rationality
“有地無理，不是地理！”
明德; 格物
Illustrious virtue/understand morals;
Identify rules, regularities, and laws from
the real world
Fundamental questions we ask:
 Why
are things located where they are?
 What are the causal relationship among
places and how do they change through time?
Canada
U.K.
●
BJ
USA
China
MC ●
India
Opium
SH ●
● GZ

HK
Navy
Tea
Silks
Manchester: Location, Growth and Transformation since 1830
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 reduced the traveling time between Britain
and India. It allowed India to export its raw cotton to Manchester but ruined the
Indian domestic textile industry. British colonialists established cotton plantations in
Egypt and Uganda, providing another source of supply.
Manchester: Landscape of Industrialization in the 1800s
Manchester’s first cotton mill was built in the early 1780s, and by 1830 there were
99 cotton-spinning mills, creating an industrial landscape of red-brick terrace
housing and “Dark Satanic Mills” with their tall brick chimneys.
Railways in Stockport; The Bridgewater Canal bringing coal from Worsley;
Working class terrace housing; City Hall in Victorian Gothic architectural style.
Geography of Public Debt Crisis
Public Debt as % of GDP 2011
Long-term interest rates of government bonds. A yield of 6 % or more indicates that
financial markets have serious doubts about credit-worthiness
European Debt Crisis
 Where?
Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain…
 Why?



Global: Shifting production base to China & emerging
economiesshifting employment & wealth to the East; China
East Asia high savingproperty bubble; US 2008 sub-prime
crisisbust of bubblesome able to assume liabilities either
with GDP or by printing money, others not
Regional: Greece & Italy circumvent 1992 EU treaty on deficit
spending level; common liabilityunable to “print money”
Local: Mediterranean countries; borrow more, save less; relax
more, hardship less; laidback lifestyle?
World GDP from selected regions, 1700-2008
Data are in millions 1990 International Geary-Khamis dollars (purchasing power parities)
World GDP from selected countries, 1700-2008
Data are in millions 1990 International Geary-Khamis dollars (purchasing power parities)
Household Consumption Expenditure and GDP in China,
1980-2008
Total Wage Bill of Urban Workers and GDP in China, 19802008
The 27 members of the European Union (EU)
USA
2008 Sub-prime Crisis
European
Debt Crisis
China, Japan, &
Emerging Markets
The European Debt Crisis:
--A Geographical Perspective
Geomancy (風水): fortune of a household
Geography: fortune of a city, region, country, and
the world
Special area of study
Meteorology
Geography
Geology
Geology
Botany
History
Sociology
Geography
location, distribution,
organization, interaction
Place
Similarities, differences,
causal relationships
Geography
a
spatial science
 describes, explains, predicts
 spatial distribution & causal association
of human activities and physical features
 on the surface of the earth
Physical geography: physical features
Human geography: human activities
Cultural Landscape:
Imprint of human activities
II. Why human geography?
i) Provides knowledge essential to the
formulation of national and international
policies & strategy
e.g. -Ancient China: “Story of Three Kingdoms”
- Modern China: selection of HK as a British colony
- Contemporary: SEZs, coastal cities;
develop HK as Asia’s World City
II. Why human geography?
ii) Essential knowledge to global economic
decision making
eg. - investment in mainland China
- Where should investment go?
II. Why human geography?
World Development Report 2009



“The best predictor of income in the world today is not
what or whom you know, but where you work” (p. 1);
“Location remains important at all stages of
development, but it matters less for living standards in
a rich country than in a poor one” (p. 2);
“This Report advances the influence of geography on
economic opportunity by elevating space and place
from mere undercurrents in policy to a major focus” (p.
3).
Paul Krugman’s Discovery of
New Economic Geography (NEG)
NEG explains agglomeration "as the outcome of the
interaction of increasing returns, trade costs and factor
price differences.” If trade is largely shaped by
economies of scale, as Krugman's trade theory argues,
then those economic regions with most production will
be more profitable and will therefore attract even more
production. Instead of spreading out evenly around the
world, production will tend to concentrate in a few
countries, regions, or cities, which will become densely
populated but also have higher levels of income.
China Seen in US LandSat 30th December 2011
II. Why human geography?
iii) Necessary to urban planning
eg. The site selection of
Airport
Disneyland
Cyberport
III. How to study human geography?
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

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Nature of the course
Objectives
Major topics
Course Assessments
•
Office Hours
Wednesday 2:00 ~ 3:00 pm
Thursday 2:00 ~ 3:00 pm
•
Important Deadlines
29th February (Wedn.) 10:30-12:25 -- Tutorial in class
28th March –Essay on due
•
•
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Web: http://geog.hku.hk/undergrad/geog1017
User ID:
GEOG1017
Password:
LinP1
(Both ID and password are case-sensitive)
Teaching Assistants
Mr. LIU, Tao, [email protected]
Mail Box: 3rd Floor, Hui Oi Chow Science Bldg
Office:
G-01B, Hui Oi Chow Science Bldg
Tel:
2241-5970
Office hours:
Tuesday 5:00-6:00pm
Wednesday 5:00-6:00pm