Human Geo Final Flashcards
Anti-tourism
A tourist who deliberately seeks to avoid the sublime and even the commonplace tourist sites in order to know more about the underbelly of our world; the dirty, dangerous, the prohibited, and even the toxic landscapes
Dark tourism
Tourism that involves travelling to places associated with death and suffering
Territoriality
In political geography, a country’s or more local community’s sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended; an exertion of power and control over resources, people, and relationships
Ethology
The study of the formation and evolution of human customs and beliefs
Territorial aggression
Aggression demonstrated only in a particular, circumscribed area when approached; aggression with overcrowding and claims to space
Proxemics
The study of social and cultural meanings that people give to personal space; Personal Bubbles; unwritten rules about spacing
(S&C Needs) Territoriality provides
the regulation of social interaction, the regulation of access to people and resources, and the provision of a focus and symbol of group membership and identity
Ordinary landscape
everyday landscapes that people create/influence; come to symbolize entire nations/cultures (ex. Main St. of Middle America)
Don Mitchell
Believes that cultural geography should be more concerned with the social construction of the idea of culture; its deployment to serve specific interests in particular social economic, and political contexts; an instrument of social/cultural power
Commercial spaces
Places like a mall where messages are deployed through the landscape to promote consumption. The lighting, layout, and music of the store promote consumption. Process of sending signals to consumers about style, taste, and self-image.
Experiences and meaning of places
Interaction between people and places and meanings people attach to their experiences
Cognitive images
mental maps; psychological representations of locations that are made up from people’s individual ideas and impressions of these locations; representations of the world that can be called to mind through imagination
Distortion of cognitive images
due to incomplete information and biases
Cognitive images highly influences…but are subjected to…
behavior/personality/experiences, change
Coded spaces
Landscapes as text - can be read and written; do not come made with labels;
There are….who produce the meanings and…who consume meanings
Writers, Readers
Messages are read as
signs about values, beliefs, and practices
Semiotics
The practice of writing and reading signs
Signs are
embedded in landscape, space, and place - sending messages of identity, values, beliefs, and practices - sometimes too subtle to recognize
Signs may have
different meanings to different people
Places as objects of consumption
People’s enjoyment of material goods is also linked to the role of material culture as a social marker
Material consumption is linked to
symbols, beliefs, and practices of modern societies
Heritage industry
Re-creation and refurbishment of historic districts and settings that are subject to commercial exploitation - exclusionary
The economics of location
Patterns of regional economic development are historical in origin and cumulative in nature
Transnational corporations (TNCs)
Engage in international trade and production, manufacturing, and/or sales operations in several countries; grown throughout time
Globalization of economics
Has created an open market system, allowing a new flow of materials and other components; Outsourcing manufacturing activities to save money & time; New International Division of Labor; Interdependent
Manufacturing production has moved from… and into ….
Core Regions, Semi-Peripheral and Peripheral regions
Emergence of new specialization within
Core regions-producers
Transportation systems have been
further integrated through economic growth; introduces interdependency
Economic Globalization has created a sense of
Homogenization of international consumer markets
Global Assembly Lines & Supply Chains have been introduced by
Globalization
Global and regional inequalities
Unevenness in economic development has a regional dimension - scarce resources, neglect, lack of investment, and concentrations of low-skilled people.
Cumulative causation
A process through which tendencies for economic growth are self-reinforcing; an expression of the multiplier effect, it tends to favor major cities and core regions over less-advantaged peripheral regions.
Core Regions contribute to cumulative causation with
the development of external economies, agglomeration effects, and localization economies.
Backwash effects
The negative effects on one region that result from economic growth within another region.
Negative effects of backwash
out-migration, outflows of investment, and the shrinkage of local tax base at the periphery.
Agglomeration diseconomies
The negative economic effects of urbanization and concentration of industries
Effects of Agglomeration Diseconomies
Higher price for land and labor - labor unions
Traffic congestion and crowded port and railroad facilities
Increasing costs of waste disposal
Air pollution
Higher taxes to support services and amenities - traffic police, city planning, and transit systems.
Sustainable development (SD)
A balance among economic growth, the environmental impact of that growth, and social equity - wise use of resources; experiences improved education, health care, quality of life, and social welfare; directed towards local economies
GDP of Primary Commodity Producers
Producers of the primary commodities have lower GDP compared to the producers of manufacture products
Autarky
Countries that do not contribute significantly to the flow of imports and exports; economic independence
Pattern of international debt
Structured inequality in the world economy; Handicap to economic development; export earnings are spent on debt reparation
Solution of international debt
Import Substitution: Strategy for peripheral countries is to diversify their economies; Focusing on manufacturing based economy and producing goods that were originally obtained through imports
Primary producers debt crisis
Primary products have low elasticity of demand and price elasticity; balance of trade is tilted towards Primary Producers
Elasticity of demand
the degree to which levels of demand for a product or service change in response to changes in price; consumer-based
Economic developments: gender
Gender equality matters contribute to economic development; When women are included, more economic opportunities, productivity, inclusive institutions and policy choices are the result.
Gross domestic product (GDP)
A measurement of the total goods and services produced within a country.
Gross national income (GNI)
The total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign residents, minus income earned in the domestic economy by nonresidents.
Purchasing power parity (PPP)
The amount of money needed in one country to purchase the same goods and services in another country
Rostow’s Model of Economic Development & Dependency
Development progress through stages:
Reliance on primary activities → Industrialization stage → A stage of post industrial development.
Critics of rostows model
Model is too simplistic, places are interdependent
Myth of “developmentalism”
Every country will eventually progress toward “high mass consumption” provided they compete to the best of their ability within the world economy.
Shifting cultivation
A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period.
Crop rotation
The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil.
Slash and burn
A farming method involving the cutting of trees, then burning them to provide ash-enriched soil for the planting of crops
Swidden
A patch of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning.
Intertillage
practice of mixing different seeds and seedlings in the same swidden; maximum use of soil, less plant competition, reduces spread of disease, controls soil erosion, increases yield over different seasons
Shifting cultivation involves
gender division of labor (different tasks for men and women - children)
Order forms of agriculture
Hunting & Gathering, Subsidence Agriculture: Domestication of animals and plants; Consume most of what is produced
Commercial agriculture
Production of crops and animals primarily for sale
Plantation agriculture
The production of one or more usually cash crops on a large swathe of land
Industrialization of agriculture
Mechanization, chemical farming, food manufacturing, hybrid/biotechnologies, green revolution
Agribusiness
The set of economic and political relationships that organizes food production; Food Supply Chain
Food supply chain
A way of understanding the organizational structure of agribusiness; Shows the network of connections among producers and consumers and regions and places; Displacement of traditional agricultural practices in peripheral regions
Major changes in global agriculture
Hunting & Gathering → Subsistence Agriculture → Commercial Agriculture
GMOs
Organisms that have been genetically altered to improve plants/foodstuffs usefulness
Little is known about the impact of GMOs on
human health, the environment, and wider global economic system
(GMOs)Europe vs. America
Has banned the use of GMOs, no regulations besides labeling on products
Engineered Food (GMOs) are designed for
for consumption by poor people in the periphery
Food sovereignty
The right of peoples, communities, and countries to define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food, and land policies that are ecologically, socially, economically, and culturally appropriate to their unique circumstances.
The green revolution
Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology such as Expansion of irrigation infrastructure, Modernization of management techniques, Distribution of hybridized seeds, and Fertilizers and pesticides
The effects of green revolution
Did not eradicate hunger and famine
Wheat, rice, and maize are unsuitable in many global regions
New seed strains vulnerable to pest and disease infestation
Created unemployment - machine replaced workers
The technology excluded women - traditional role food production
Ecosystem pollution and worker poisoning - pesticides
Norman Borlaug Hypothesis on The Green Revolution
Global food demand - either decreasing the world population or further converting forest land into cropland
High-yielding biotechnology techniques aimed to saving forest ecosystems from destruction are essential for saving the planet from ecological crisis
Land grabbing in the periphery
Large-scale land acquisition in developing countries by domestic and foreign companies, governments, and individuals; often violent from denied access
Land Grabbing occurs in regions such as
Asia, Latin America, and africa
Geopolitics
State’s power to control territory and shape international political relations
Ratzel and politics
Created the organic theory which proposed that a country, is an organism and would function and behave like an organism … to survive, a state requires nourishment - in the global context, this means territory - to gain political power.
Social darwinism
The belief that only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle; Competition; Survival of The Fittest
Multinational states (ratzel)
States composed of more than one regional or ethnic group; Groups of people sharing an identity different from the majority, yet living within the same political unit with the majority, agitate to form their own state.
Examples of multinational states
US, Spain, France, Kenya, ghana
Nation states
refers to a homogenous group of people governed by their own state - no significant group is left outside of its territory
State
an independent political unit with recognized boundaries - is one of the most powerful forces
Nation
a group of people sharing certain elements of culture, such as religion, language, history, or political identity
Stateless people
A person who is not considered a national by any state under the operation of its laws; live as exiles with no status - Ex. Refugees (not always)
Heartland theory (Mackinder)
Eurasia is the most likely base from which a successful campaign for world conquest could be launched (will rise again as it borders many important countries)
Heartland region
“The geographical pivot”
Self determinism
The right of a group with a distinctive politico-territorial identity to determine it’s own destiny through the control of its own territory
Israel-Palestine conflict
the ongoing dispute between the Jewish and Arab populations in the former Ottoman Empire region of Palestine; due to an establishment of a Jewish State; Palestinians struggle from displacement and colonization
Supranational organizations
cooperating groups of nations that operate on either a regional or international level to promote shared economic/political interests
International regime
The fundamental rules and norms that link states together and shape their relationships to one another, usually regarding some specific issues (such as greenhouse gases or trade)
Reapportionment
the process of allocating electoral seats to geographical areas
The # of congressional representatives fixed at 435
Redistricting
The defining and redefining of territorial district boundaries
Gerrymanding
Redistricting for partisan purposes
Boundaries of districts being redrawn to benefit a particular political party/candidate or prevent/ensure a loss of power of a particular subpopulation
The drawing of electoral district boundaries remains a political volatile exercise
Urbanism
way of life, attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior fostered by urban settings; distinctive
The earliest urbanization developed independently in the hearth areas
the valleys of Tigris, Euphrates and the Niles - intensive cultivation (river valleys)
Foundations Of The Global Urban System
Appearance of rival cities based on agricultural competition, conquering of cities, and creation of capital cities
Transition to city-based economies differed
Changes in social organization: able to exact tributes, taxes, and control labor powers through religious persuasion and military coercion
Elite using accumulated wealth to build palaces, arenas, and monuments
This also increased specialization in nonagricultural activities - construction, craft, administration, the priesthood, and others.
European Urban Expansion (Feudal System in Medieval Europe)
Feudalism: A rigid, rural oriented form of economic and social organization based on the communal chiefdom of Germanic tribes; All land belongs to the king who gives to his nobles; Nearly destroyed in the Dark Ages
Issues with feudislism
Population growth
Levied higher taxes
Diversified economy (different trades emerged)
Central place theory
A theory that explains the distribution of services, based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services; larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel farther.
Primate cities
A city which is greater than two times the next largest city in a nation (or contains over one-third of a nation’s population). The primate city is usually very expressive of the national culture and often the capital city.
Examples of primate cities
Paris, London, Mexico City, bangkok
Worlds cities
Most highly centralized cities; very influential; serves as the control centers for the flows of information, cultural products, and finance that collectively sustain the economic and cultural globalization of the world; Do not have to be the largest
Synergy
(cooperation; combined efforts) exists among the diverse functional dimensions of world cities
Megacities
cities with more than 10 million people
Metacities
cities with populations over 20 million; also called hypercities
Urbanization in The Developing World
Population growth in rural areas → Decreased Agricultural Productivity → Chain Migration → Outmigration (increasingly restricted by developing countries) → Migration to Cities → Remittances, information about urban amenities and opportunities (repeat)
Overurbanization (“uncontrolled urbanization”)
When cities grow more rapidly than they can sustain jobs and housing; slum development is a common phenomenon; creating “danger zones”, where children become beggars, prostitutes, and laborers
Central business district (CBDs)
A hub of commercial activity; Highest concentration of shops, offices, warehouses, and tallest nonresidential buildings
Central cities
the original, core jurisdictions of metropolitan areas
Zone in transition
name given to the second ring of the concentric zone model, which surrounds the CBD, in the concentric zone model. Either becoming more rural or urban; mixed land uses
Sprawl
Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built-up area; typically arranged around one or more “central cities”; seen as consequences of economic growth and the democratization of society
Federal policy
The most important influence on the American metropolis over the past 50 years; a plan developed by the government to influence decisions
Multi-nodal city
overlapping networks/connections in a city; similar to central hubs
Gentrification
A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area.
The polycentric metropolis
Developed around one or more cities of global status, it is characterized by a cluster of cities and towns, physically separate but intensively networked in a complex spatial division of labor
Fiscal problems
Taxes/revenue can’t keep up with expenditures; low tax base due to inner-city poverty
Fiscal squeeze
increasing limitations on city revenues, combined with increasing demands for expenditure on urban infrastructure and city services
Slums of hope
increasing limitations on city revenues, combined with increasing demands for expenditure on urban infrastructure and city services
Slums of despair
Slums are characterised as marginal and lock slum dwellers into a cycle of poverty where future prospects are bleak. Little actions is taken to change their existing circumstances
Slum clearance program
an urban renewal strategy to regenerate derelict or run-down districts, often to be replaced with alternative developments or new housing; make way for public works, land speculation, luxury housing, and urban renewal and, on occasion, to improve the appearance of cities for special visitors.
The Affluent travel … to get to work and the Poor travel …
More, less
Utility
usefulness; people desire to maximize utility; a function of a place’s accessibility (typically pivot is city center)
Theory of Polycentric Cities Developing Into Megalopolis (Jean Gottman)
a very large, heavily populated city or urban complex.
Edge cities
Decentralized clusters of retailing and office development
Metroburbia
Residential areas in the suburbs and ex-urban areas thoroughly interspersed with office employment and high-end retailing
Ghettos
the concentration of poverty in a particular neighborhood
Redlining
A discriminatory real estate practice in North America in which members of minority groups are prevented from obtaining money to purchase homes or property in predominantly white neighborhoods
