Geographers recognize that each place or region on Earth is in some ways unique, but they also recognize that human activities are rarely confined to one location. Three basic concepts—scale, space, and connections—help geographers explain that similarities among places and regions result from regularities rather than coincidences.
III Key Issue 1.3: What Are Different Places Similar?
A. Scale: Global to Local
Scale & Cultural Change—uniform cultural landscapes, globalization of culture
Scale & Economic Change—transnational corporations conduct business and research in many countries
B. Space: Distribution of Features
Distribution—how objects are distributed across space
Distribution Properties: Density—frequency something occurs in space
Distribution Properties: Concentration—extent of a features spread over space, clustered vs.
dispersed
Distribution Properties: Pattern—geometric arrangements of objects in space
Distribution Properties: Your Space
C. Space Inequality
Geographic Thought
a. poststructuralist geography—how the powerful in a society dominate less powerful groups
b. humanistic geography—analyzes different ways individuals form ideas about a place and give it meaning
c. behavioral geography—aims to understand psychological basis for individual human actions in space
Uneven Development—increasing gap in economic conditions in core and peripheral regions
Inequality Within Countries
D. Space: Gender Identity
Gender & Sex
Gender Roles
Distribution by Gender
E. Space: Cultural Identity
Distribution by Sexual Orientation
Distribution by Ethnicity & Race
F. Connections: Diffusion
Terms
a . diffusion—process by which a features spreads across space through time
b. hearth— place from which an idea originates
Relocation Diffusion—the spread of an idea through the physical movement of people from one place to another
Expansion Diffusion—spread a feature from one place to another in an additive process
a. hierarchical diffusion—spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power
b. contagious diffusion—rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic through the population i meme—contagious diffusion via the Internet or social media
c. stimulus diffusion—spread of an underlying principle even though the characteristic fails to diffuse
G. Connections: Spatial Interaction
Terms
a. distance decay—contact diminishes with increasing distance and eventually disappears
b. space-time compression—reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place
Networks—chain of communication that connects places
Connections & Culture
a. assimilation—process by which a group’s cultural features are altered to resemble those of another group
b. acculturation—process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups
c . syncretism—combing elements of two groups into a new cultural feature
Key Issue 3: Why Are Different Places Similar?
Scale: Global to Local Scale is an integral element of geographical analysis, especially as it concerns issues of globalization. Globalization is a force or process that engages the world as a whole and results in making something worldwide in scope.
Scale and Cultural Change Economic globalization is matched with an increasing global influence and spread of some cultures, resulting in more uniform cultural landscapes across the world. Groups with distinctive local cultures may feel threatened by the globalization of culture, causing conflict or a sense of loss. The survival of a local culture’s distinctive beliefs, forms, and traits may be threatened by interaction with social customs as wearing jeans and Nike shoes, consuming Coca-Cola and McDonald’s hamburgers, and communicating using cell phones and computers. Yet despite globalization, cultural differences among places not only persist but also actually flourish in many places.
Scale & Economic Change The globalization of economic activities has resulted from increasing connections between places and the rapid movement of goods and information around the world. Today, every place in the world is part of the global economy. Transnational corporations conduct research, operate factories, and sell products in many countries, not just where its headquarters and principal shareholders are located. Transnational corporations aim to maximize the use of local specialization as they identify optimal locations and coordinate each locality’s distinctive role in the global economy.
Space: Distribution of Features Geographers compare and analyze the arrangement of people and activities across space and explain reasons for the patterns observed. Geographers use the concept of distribution to describe the spatial arrangement of objects across Earth’s surface. Three aspects of spatial arrangement may be used to further describe distribution: density, concentration, and pattern.
Distribution Properties: Density Density is the frequency with which something occurs in space. Density is expressed as the number of features per area of land.
Distribution Properties: Concentration The extent of a feature’s spread over space is its concentration. If the objects in an area are close together, they are clustered; if they are far apart, they are dispersed. Geographers use concentration to explain distribution. In a dispersed neighborhood, each house has a large private yard, whereas in a clustered neighborhood, the houses are close together and open space is shared as a community park.
Distribution Properties: Pattern The term pattern describes whether features are arranged along geometric or other predictable arrangements. Geographers observe that many objects form a linear distribution, such as the arrangement of houses along a street or stations along a subway line. Many American cities contain a regular pattern of streets, known as a grid pattern, which intersect at right angles at uniform intervals to form square or rectangular blocks.
Distribution Properties: Your Space Even at the level of your classroom, the distribution of desks and people illustrates the concepts of density, pattern, and concentration.
Space: Inequality Electronic communications have played a role in the removal of physical barriers to interaction among people located far apart. However, opportunities for interaction are limited by unequal access to electronics and the availability of electricity and Internet connections.
Geographic Thought Geographers employ a variety of methods to understand cultural identity and space, including those of poststructuralist, humanistic, and behavioral geography. Poststructuralist geography examines how the powerful in a society dominate, or seek to control, less powerful group, how the dominated groups occupy space, and confrontations that result from the domination. Poststructuralist geographers conceptualize space as the product of ideologies or value systems of ruling elites.
Humanistic geography is a branch of human geography that emphasizes the different ways that individuals perceive their surrounding environment. Behavioral geography emphasizes the importance of understanding the psychological basis for individual human actions in space. Distinctive spatial patterns by gender, race, and sexual orientation are constructed by the attitudes and actions of others.
Uneven Development Global culture and economy are centered on three core regions: North America, Europe, and East Asia. Other developing regions located on the periphery have limited access to communications, wealth, and power. The increasing gap in economic conditions between regions in the core and periphery that results from globalization is known as uneven development.
Inequality Within Countries Unequal access and economic inequality have increased within countries. The inequality gap in the United States is increasing. The share of the national income held by the wealthiest one percent has increased to 40 percent in 2017. At the same time, the number of people living in poverty has increased by one percent.
Space: Gender Identity Geographers study cultural traits, such as gender, ethnicity, and sexuality because they help explain the distribution and movement of people across space.
Gender & Sex The United Nations defines gender as the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female. Typically, women and men have different and unequal responsibilities and different opportunities. Gender roles are based on society’s norms, roles and relationships, and male and female identities and are passed down to successive generations in a society. Humans often arrange their activities in space according to gender, ethnicity, and sexuality.
Distribution by Gender Geographers focus on the distribution by gender. Gender inequality is often reinforced by institutions and stereotypes about the norms associated with different ages or groups of men or women. There is no country in the world in which the average income earned by women exceeds that earned by men.
Space: Cultural Identity In addition to race and ethnicity, sex, age, and class are important elements of cultural identity. Geographers study these elements of cultural identity because they help to explain why people sort themselves out in space and move across the landscape in distinctive ways.
Distribution by Sexual Orientation Openly homosexual men and lesbian women may be attracted to some locations to reinforce spatial interactions with other LGBTQ (lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer people). Geographers examine the distribution patterns at a variety of scales.
Distribution by Ethnicity & Race Within the United States, the distribution of various ethnic groups varies at all scales. Primarily, African Americans are clustered in the Southeast and Hispanics in the Southwest. For geographers, concern and deep respect for cultural diversity is not merely a politically correct expediency; it lies at the heart of geography’s understanding of space. Geographers have deep respect for the dignity and equality of all cultural groups
Connections: Diffusion Recalling the concept of connections from the beginning of the chapter, geographers are concerned with the speed and various means by which connections may occur.
Diffusion is the process by which a cultural trait, people, things, or ideas spread across space from one place to another over time. A hearth is a place from which an innovation emerges. Geographers document the location of hearths and the processes by which diffusion carries things elsewhere over time. Geographers classify diffusion into two basic types—relocation and expansion diffusion.
Relocation Diffusion is the spread of an idea through the physical movement of people from one place to another. When people move, they carry their culture, including language, religion, and ethnicity to a new location.
Expansion Diffusion The spread of a feature from one place to another in an additive process is expansion diffusion. Expansion diffusion may occur through the spread of an idea to new areas through a hierarchy (hierarchical diffusion), popular notions or even contact (contagious diffusion), or the spread of an underlying idea divorced from its original context (stimulus diffusion).
Connections: Spatial Interaction Some places are well-connected by communications or transportation networks, while others are not. Contact diminishes with increasing distance and eventually disappears. This trailing-off phenomenon is called distance decay. In the contemporary world, distance decay is much less severe because connection between places takes less time. Geographers apply the term space-time compression to describe the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place. Interaction takes place through a network, which is a chain of communication that connects places. Ideas that originate in a hearth are now able to diffuse rapidly to other areas through communication networks. Distant places seem less remote and more accessible to us.
1.3 Key Terms
3 Types of Distribution
Density, concentration, and pattern
Case study
Detailed observations that provide insight into a group of people in a specific area
Census
An official count of individuals in a population (in the USA, it happens every 10 years)
Climate
The long-term average weather condition at a particular location.
Concentration
How closely packed together objects are
Contagious diffusion
When a cultural trend is transmitted from person to person from an original source to numerous others, similar to a virus or viral video
Culture
The social heritage of a group or their way of life - major components are language, religion, ethnicity, food, and gender roles
Density
The number of things divided by the measurement of area
Diffusion
A feature or idea that is spread from its originating place, outward - the 3 types are contagious, hierarchical, and stimulus diffusion
Distance decay
The idea that the interaction between two places declines as the distance between them increases
Expansion diffusion
A trend is spread from its originating place, outward
Globalization
Worldwide integration and development which results in the expansion of international cultural, economic, and political activities
Gravity Model of Spatial Interaction
The most important model in geography - (population1 x population2)/distance squared the interconnectedness of 2 places depends on their distance and population
Hearth
A source of culture (where a culture began)
Hierarchical diffusion
The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places
Humanistic geography
An approach to human geography that emphasizes the different ways that individuals form ideas about place and give those places symbolic meanings.
Infrastructure
The basic facilities and installations that help a government or community run, including roads, schools, phone lines, sewage treatment plants and power generation
Network
A chain of communication, transportation, or ideas that connects places
Relocation diffusion
The physical spread of a feature or trait by people migrating
Stimulus diffusion
When a feature or idea spreads, but is changed by those adopting the idea
Time-space compression
The idea that the world feels smaller than it used to because of increased technology in transportation and communication
Uneven development
Unequal distribution of people, resources, and wealth within a region