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Chapter 1
Thinking
Geographically
Earth rise – from the Apollo 8 mission 1968
North America at night (assembled from several satellite images)
Geography:
• Geo/graphy = Earth/writing or
Earth/description
• Study of the distribution of physical and
human phenomena, their interactions
and the reasons for their location.
• Where and why!
Human Geography (Geog &200)
Maps as cultural constructions, geographic exploration, population and migration,
popular and folk culture, language, religion, ethnicity and race, international
development, urban geography.
Five credits: social science or humanities, university aligned.
Culture
Population
Place
Development
Sustainability
Sacred landscapes
Ethnicity
Our construction of regions
and places
Source: US Dept. of Defense
Regions based o physical and cultural features
Chapter 1
• What is geography
• Maps, projections, topographic maps
• Tools: GIS, remote sensing, GPS,
census data
• Places: Site, situation, latitude and
longitude, time
• Regions: Formal, Functional,
Vernacular, role of culture in regions
Chapter 1 (Cont)
• Cultural ecology: climate, vegetation, soil,
landforms
• Jared Diamond: ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’
• Globalization
• Spatial organization of features: distribution,
density, concentration, pattern,
• Connections, spread of ideas, things, people
What Is Geography?
• Two major branches:
– Physical (climate, landforms, global warming, erosion etc)
– Human
• Cultural (spatial arrangement of languages, settlements,
religions, ethnicities)
• Economic (agriculture, manufacturing services)
• Uniting tools
– Spatial approaches – concept of place and region,
connections
– Cartography (carto/graphy)
– Remote sensing
– Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
– Interactions between physical and human phenomena
Why geography?
• “The information that any citizen needs
in order to make an informed decision
on an important question of the day is
largely geographic.”
– Job location, house location, what to wear,
how to vote, what type of coffee to buy, etc
Geographers
• Association of American Geographers
– www.aag.org 55 specialties
– UK, Europe: more geographers
– Variety of job opportunities
(http://www.colorado.edu/geography/virtde
pt/resources/jobs/jobs.htm)
– All involve ‘Where?’ and ‘Why there?’
MAPS: How Geographers
Address Location • Tool for storing information
• Tool for conveying information (correct
or incorrect!)
• Tool for analysis
Projections
Cylindrical distorts area
Conic distorts shape
Robinson projection
as a compromise …
no perfect solution
Mercator map
PTOLEMY-DERIVED MAP
Drawn in the fifteenth
century, the map is
based on the work of the
classical Greek
geographer Claudius
Ptolemy, who was active
in 2ndC. AD. The map
represents the
perceived view of the
world of Columbus and
other Renaissance
European explorers.
Maps of the Marshall Islands
Fig. 1-2: A Polynesian “stick chart” depicts patterns of waves on the sea route between two
South Pacific islands. Modern maps show the locations of these Marshall Islands.
World Political Boundaries (2004)
Fig. 1-1: National political boundaries are among the most significant elements of
the cultural landscape
Maps can ‘mess with your mind’
"Maps provide powerful
images. For people
who want to change the
way we think about the
world, changing our
map of the world is
often a necessary first
step."
(Dorling/Fairbairn,
Mapping p. 154)
From Steve Quale’s website
(Quale specializes in hazards that he
feels people should worry about)
Map showing Biological
Weapons Facilities prepared
by the CIA in 2002
Library of University of Texas
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle
_east_and_asia/iraq_bw_2002.jpg
Did Sarah Palin’s campaign map add to the rhetoric of disrespect and violence
and influence an unbalanced man to kill?
An issue raised in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.) and 19
others including the deaths of six. 8 Jan 2011
(http://www.livescience.com/culture/political-rhetoric-insanity-violence110110.html)
How about advertising in maps?
Scale Differences: Maps of Florida
Ratio
Representative fraction
Written scale
Graphic scale
Large scale vs small scale
Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Florida. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)
Township and Range System in the U.S.
Land Ordinance of 1785
Township: 6 miles x 6 miles
Section: 1 mile x 1 mile
Quarter section: 0.5 x 0.5 miles
Quarter section: 160 acres
Topographic maps
Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians and east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in
northwest Mississippi and topographic map of the area.
Surveyed Plat in Minnesota from 1854
(‘plats’ are established within the township and range system
and show divisions of a piece of land. Plats are the prelude to
towns and division of land for houses)
South Dakota, cultural imprint of the township and range system
The ultimate map: Layers of
a GIS product
Types of data:
• Remotely sensed data
• Topographic maps
• Thematic maps
• On-site measurements (GPS)
Problem solving combinations:
• Disaster relief
• Warfare
• City planning
• Forest fire containment
Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in
several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.
Mental Maps
• A mental map is a cartographic representation of an
individual's personal understanding of the
environment(s) she/he inhabits.
• Mental maps are personal constructions and will
depend not only on the physical environment but
also on our daily practices, our life experiences, and
our cultural values
• Use: understanding indigenous tribes landuse
patterns, understanding how spaces in a city are
used.
Mental maps
Scents and the City
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/08/29/opinion/20090829-smell-map-feature.html
Why is Each Point on Earth Unique?
• Unique location
– Place name (toponym)
– Board of Geographic Names for Washington
State. Guess what:
http://crosscut.com/2010/06/08/mossback/19875/Budget-cutsmake-Washington-only-state-without-board-to-decide-place-names/
– Site (physical characteristics)
– Situation (related to other places)
– Mathematical location (latitude, longitude)
– Sense of Place (personal & often intangible how
a place ‘feels’ to you)
Place names: making names
unique
• Multiple use of names
– France
– England - Wells by the Sea
– Canada has a London
Washington names
• Bremerton: William Bremer, platted town in
1891, sold land for navy ship yard, town
incorporated in 1901
• Poulsbo named by an early resident for his
hometown Poulsbomoen in Norway
• Sequim derived from the Such-e-kwai-ing in
the Clallam language.
Site: Physical aspects of a place
Fig. 1-6: Site of lower Manhattan Island, New York City. There have been many changes to
the area over the last 200 years, ie the site of New York has changed.
Seattle
• Surface raised, tide-flats built on and
extended
Regraded 1st Avenue, originally called Front
Street, Seattle, 1876
Courtesy MOHAI
Situation: Singapore
Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.
Timbuktu: situation has
dramatically changed
Note: The situation of a place
can change over time, resulting
in its growth or shrinkage, eg
Timbuktu
Mathematical location: World
Geographic Grid
Bremerton Coordinates:
Latitude 47.60° N
Longitude 122.63° W
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swKBi6hHHMA
Fig. 1-8: The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of
latitude. The prime meridian (0º) passes through Greenwich, England.
The prime meridian
World Time Zones
Fig. 1-9: The world’s 24 standard time zones. Each time zone is approximately 15° of
longitude but there are exceptions due to politics.
Sense of Place
• Sense of place: how you feel about a
place based on both its physical
characteristics and your experiences
connected to that place
• Intangible aspects that go beyond a
unique name or location
• Special places – where are these for
you?
Bodie: real and imagined
Places can be made
‘The most important woman in the
history of southern California never
lived. The heroine of Helen Hunt
Jackson’s popular 1884 novel
Ramona, a half-Indian beauty raised
on a wealthy Mexican rancho,
nonetheless left an indelible imprint on
southern California’s landscape. Within
a year of its publication, landmarks
identified with Ramona’s fictional life—
her birthplace, her home, the site of
her wedding, and her grave—became
important, even canonical parts of a
visit to southern California. One could
take the Ramona freeway to town,
cook like Ramona, and smell like
Ramona. The novel’s romanticized
version of California’s Hispanic past
also inspired films, songs, musical
instruments, jewelry, clothes, beer,
wine, canned goods, collectibles, and a
play that still draws thirty thousand
people annually.‘
And places can be changed … eg Forks and Twilight
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26811199/
Sense of
Place
Pioneer
Square from
an ‘enjoy
Seattle’
website
After dark in Pioneer Square?
Uniqueness of Places and
Regions
• Place: Unique location of a feature
–
–
–
–
–
Place names
Site
Situation
Mathematical location
Sense of Place Points of uniqueness … the
perception of this may vary from person to person
• Regions: Areas of unique characteristics
–
–
–
–
Cultural landscape
Types of regions
Regional integration of culture
Cultural ecology
Cultural landscape
• Regions have distinctive landscapes
• Unique combination of factors
– Physical
– Economic
– Political
– Imagined
Types of Regions
• Formal regions
– Exhibit uniformity across a cultural or physical
characteristic, e.g. USA, a state or Olympic peninsula
(predominant/universal)
• Functional or nodal regions
– Defined by interactions from a center
– Impact lessens with distance (e.g. response to
disasters)
• Vernacular regions
– Popular perception of a region
• Mental maps
– How we see regions
Formal regions
• County
• City
Formal and Functional Regions
Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of
various television stations are examples of functional regions.
In what way are we functionally part of Seattle (although we are not formally part of Seattle?)
Vernacular Regions
Fig. 1-12: A number of factors are often used to define the South as a vernacular region,
each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.
Pacific Northwest?
Regional characteristics
Regions are based on a selection of the
following:
• Culture: beliefs, materials, social activities,
language, religion
• Economics: uneven distribution of wealth
• More Developed Countries MDCs
• Less Developed Countries LDCs
• Political institutions
• Imagined
Regional characteristics: Physical
Environment
• Climate
• Topography
• Biomes: forest, savanna, grassland,
desert
Cultural ecology: Study of relationship
between humans and their environment
Regional studies: Spatial
Association at Various Scales
Death rates from cancer in the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore show different patterns
and hence associations with different factors.
i.e. How regions are selected influences the results of an analysis.
Cultural Ecology
• Culture and the environment
– Environmental determinism – Geographers
of the 19th century and early 20th century
believed that climate influenced peoples
psychologies.
– Problems?
Environmental
determinism
Led to racism, imperialism,
and colonialism
Cultural Ecology
– Environmental possibilism – physical
environment may limit some choices
– Jared Diamond at UCLA – currently active
• Guns, Germs, Steel and Collapse
Cultural Ecology
• Human impacts on the environment , ie
our modification of the environment.
– Some driven by need for food (physical
needs)
– Some driven by cultural needs
• Lawns
• Golf
• Parks
Environmental Modification in the
Netherlands
Fig. 1-15: Polders and dikes have been used for extensive environmental modification in
the Netherlands.
Environmental Modification in Florida
Fig. 1-16: Straightening the Kissimmee River has had many unintended side effects.
More locally: Environmental
modification in Nisqually delta
“Restore salt marsh and
other intertidal habitat on
approximately 100 acres of
diked pasture in the
Nisqually Delta by removing
over 4,000 linear feet of
dikes and fill the associated
ditches to ensure
undirected tidal flow to the
land. Species that will
benefit from restoration of
the Nisqually estuary
include chinook salmon,
steelhead, and bull trout.”
Spatial thinking: Place, space and
connections
Geography matters because it works to identify
and explain human actions at all scales.
• Scale: From local to global
– Globalization of economy
– Globalization of culture
• Space: Distribution of features
– Distribution
– Gender and ethnic diversity in space
• Connections between places
– Spatial interaction
– Diffusion
Globalization of the Economy:
transnational corporations
Fig. 1-17: The Denso corporation is headquartered in Japan, but it has regional
headquarters and other facilities in North America and Western Europe.
Globalization of culture, food, clothes, religion, goods such as cars
Connections: Space-Time
Compression, 1492–1962
Internet?
Has this
resulted in
space time
compression
for all?
Fig. 1-20: The times required to cross the Atlantic, or orbit the Earth, illustrate how
new transport technologies have ‘shrunk’ the world.
In contrast to globalism, localization:
regional products/worldwide marketing
Champagne
Sequim
Space: Distribution of Features
Terms:
• Density: e.g. some number per square mile
(arithmetic density), or number of people per unit of
productive land (physiological density)
• Concentration: clustered, dispersed
• Pattern: e.g. grid, linear, related to a physical feature
Patterns in space depend on who you are
• Gender and ethnic variations (parallel worlds)
– Eg Sunset strip
– Pioneer Square?
Describing the
distribution of
places in space:
Density,
Concentration
Pattern
Fig. 1-18: The density, concentration, and pattern (of houses in this example) may each
vary in an area or landscape.
Patterns in space as a function of
gender and ethnicity
Patterns in space depend on who you are and on time
• Gender and ethnic variations (parallel worlds)
• Terms
– Gender and Sex
• gender is used to refer to social or cultural categories whereas sex
refers to biological characteristics
• Performing gender
– Ethnicity and Race
• ethnicity as a social construct, race a convenient Census category
(more on this later)
• Parallel worlds
– Daily routine within a family
– More of a gender difference in some cultures , maintenance of
cultural identity?
– Patterns over time
• Eg. Sunset strip, LA
• Pioneer Square, Seattle?
Culture and humans
• From the text Pg 35: “A pet dog doesn’t care if you are male or
female, black or white, gay or not. As long as you feed it, take
care of it, and maintain close spatial interaction with it, your dog
will respond with total, unquestioned devotion. Although dogs
don’t care about these cultural traits, people do. They are key
characteristics to which people refer in order to identify who they
are. Cultural identity is a source of pride to people and an
inspiration for personal values.”
• “ For geographers, concern for cultural diversity is not merely a
politically correct expediency; it lies at the heart of geography’s
spatial tradition. Nor for geographers is deep respect for the
dignity of all cultural groups merely a politically correct
“expediency; it lies at the heart of geography’s explanation of
why each place on earth is unique.”
Connections between Places
• Space time compression
• Spatial interactions: exchanges of ideas
or materials, or people from one place
to another
Airline Route Networks – connections
through spokes
Fig. 1-21: Delta Airlines, like many others, has configured its route network in a
“hub and spoke” system.
Three Types of Diffusion
(Diffusion is how things spread)
• Relocation diffusion (eg nomads, me, possibly you)
• Contiguous or contagious diffusion (dispersion, like oil spreading
on water, ideas, diseases, building styles, some people who move
incrementally)
• Hierarchical diffusion (from centers eg like the Roman Catholic
Church) Also disease, airlines, commerce may follow a hierarchical
pattern.
• Barriers to diffusion (hence uneven distribution)
– Cultural barriers
– Oceans, deserts, distance, time
– Political boundaries, rules and regulations, cultural differences
• Distance decay: the further people are apart the less likely they are
to interact
AIDS Diffusion in the U.S., 1981–2001
Fig. 1-22: New AIDS cases were concentrated in three nodes in 1981. They spread through
the country in the 1980s, but declined in the original nodes in the late 1990s.