Unit 1: Thinking Geographically

Key Concepts:

• Space is the geometric surface of the Earth
• Objects on the Earth’s spatial surface are defined by their location and are separated by some degree of distance from other things
• Activity space is referred to as the area wherein activity occurs on a daily basis
• Place is an area of bounded space of some human importance
• A place-name, or more technically a toponym is assigned to a location when human importance is recognized
• Regions are a type of place, and there are other categories of places, such as urban places, places of work, resource locations, and transportation nodes
• Attributes of a place change over time
  • The concept of sequent occupancy is considered over a long term: in other words, the succession of groups and cultural influences throughout a place’s history
  • There are several different historical layers that contribute to a place-specific culture, society, local politics, and economy
• Scale is the relationship of an object or place to the Earth as a whole
• Map scale describes the ratio of distance on a map to distance in the real world in absolute terms
• Relative scale, or scale of analysis refers to the level of aggregation, or in other words, the level at which you group things together for examination.
  • Scales can range from local to city and state, from regional to national to continental, or to the international and global scales
• Regions are categorized into three groups: formal, functional, and vernacular
• Formal regions are areas of bounded space that possess some homogeneous characteristic or uniformity
• A homogeneous characteristic can be a common language
• Regional boundaries differ based on the type of region.
• Culture regions tend to have fuzzy borders
• Political regions boundaries are finite and well-defined
• Environmental region boundaries are transitional and measurable
• The environmental transition zone between two bioregions is known as an ecotone
• Functional regions or nodal regions, are areas that have a central place, or node, that is a focus or point of origin that expresses some practical purpose
• Market areas are a type of functional region
• Since outlet malls are often placed far apart, there will also be a larger area of influence for the mall that will have shoppers traveling from longer distances
• An intervening opportunity is an attraction at a shorter distance that takes precedence over an attraction that is farther away.
• Vernacular regions are based upon the perception or collective mental map of the region’s residents
• The overall concept can vary within the region due to personal or group variations
• Location is considered in both absolute and relative terms
• Absolute location defines a point or place on the map using coordinates such as latitude and longitude.
  • The Prime Meridian is 0° longitude and runs through Great Britain because the means to accurately calculate longitude at sea was developed by the British Royal Navy.
  • The equator is 0° latitude. The North and South Poles are 90° latitude.
• Time Zones are divided up into 15-degree-wide longitudinal zones around the world with some exceptions. This is because 360° divided by 24 hours a day equals 15°.
• Relative location, by contrast, refers to the location of a place compared to a known place or geographic feature.
• Site and Situation are locational concepts that work together
• Site refers to the physical characteristics of a place
• Situation refers to the place’s interrelatedness with other places
• Distance is considered in absolute and relative terms
• Linear absolute distance is the distance between two places as measured in linear units such as miles or kilometers
• The concept of distance decay and Tobler’s Law is used to explain relative distance.
  • Distance decay (gravity) means that the farther away different places are from a place of origin, the less likely interaction will be with the original place
  • Tobler’s law states that all places are interrelated, but closer places are more related than farther ones.
  • Friction of distance is the length of distance that becomes a factor that inhibits the interaction between two points.
• Space-Time Compression is decreased time and relative distance between places
• Technology like modes of transportation or the Internet can reduce the relative distance between places
• Human-Environmental Transportation is the effect that humans have on their environment, and vice versa

Spatial Interactions

• Central Places are any node of human activity and are most often the centers of economic exchange.
• Central place theory was developed in the 1930s by the German geographer Walter Christaller
  • city location and the level of urban economic exchange could be analyzed using central places within hexagonal market areas, which overlapped at different scales
• Core and Periphery relationships are displayed by different regional, cultural, economic, political, and environmental phenomena and human activities
• CBD (central business district) is the core of the urban landscape, a country’s capital is the core of its political landscape.
• the core does not have to be exactly in the center of the peripheral region

Pattern

• A cluster is when things are grouped together on the Earth’s surface
• Agglomeration is when clustering occurs purposefully around a central point or a economic growth pole
• A random pattern is when there is no rhyme or reason to the distribution of a spatial phenomenon
• Objects that are normally ordered but appear dispersed are scattered
• If it is a straight line, the pattern is linear
• If it is a wavy line, the pattern is sinous
• Land survey patterns have an effect on the property lines and political boundaries of states and provinces.
• Until the 1830s, land surveys used natural landscape features to divide land on a system of metes and bounds
• A rectilinear township and range survey system based upon lines of latitude and longitude
• Long-lot patterns have a narrow frontage along a road or waterway with a very long lot shape behind.

Density

• Arithmetic density is most often calculated as the number of things per square unit of distance.
• Physiologic density measures the number of people per square unit of arable land, meaning land that either is actively farmed or has the potential to be
• Agricultural density refers only to the number of farmers per square unit of arable land

Diffusion Patterns

• There are a number of different ways and patterns in which human phenomena diffuse spatially, or spread across the Earth’s surface.
• A hearth is the point of origin or place of innovation
• Expansion diffusion pattern originates in a central place and then expands outward in all directions to other locations.
• Hierarchical diffusion originates in a first-order location and then moves down to second-order locations and from each of these to subordinate locations at increasingly local scales
• Contagious diffusion begins at a point of origin and then moves outward to nearby locations, especially those on adjoining transportation lines
• A stimulus diffusion pattern is a general or underlying principle that diffuses and then stimulates the creation of new products or ideas
• Relocation diffusion pattern begins at a point of origin and then crosses a significant physical barrier, such as an ocean, a mountain range, or a desert, and then relocates on the other side

Geographic Tools

• Scientific maps are the results of spatial analysis—the mathematical analysis of one or more quantitative geographic patterns

Types of Maps

• Topographic maps show the contour lines of elevation, as well as the urban and vegetation surface with road, building, river, and other natural landscape features
• Thematic maps express a particular subject and does not show land forms for other features.
• Choropleth maps is a thematic map that expresses the geographic variability of a particular theme using color variations.
• Isoline maps calculate data values between points across a variable surface.
• Dot density maps use dots to express the volume and density of a particular geographic feature.
• Flow-line maps use lines of varying thickness to show the direction and volume of a particular geographic movement pattern.
• Cartograms use simplified geometries to represent real-world places.
• Mental map: the cognitive image of landscape in the human mind
• Map scale is the “absolute” form of the scale concept.
• Linear map scale expresses distance on the map surface.
• The ratio scale of the map shows the mathematical relationship between the distance on the map compared to the real distance on the Earth’s surface.
• A large-scale map is one with a ratio that is a comparatively large real number
• A small-scale map is one with a ratio that is a comparatively very small real number

Projections

• Each given projection creates different levels of accuracy in terms of size and shape distortion for different parts of the Earth.
• accuracy is based upon two concepts: area preservation and shape preservation
• Equal-area projections attempt to maintain the relative spatial science and the areas on the map.
  • distortion of the actual shape of polygons
• Conformal projections attempt to maintain the shape of polygons on the map.
  • distortion of the relative area from one part of the map to the other
• Robinson projection and the Goode’s homolosine projection balance area and form, sacrificing a bit of both to create a more visually practical representation of the Earth’s surface.

MODELS

• A model is an abstract generalization of real-world geographies that share a common pattern
• Spatial models attempt to show the commonalities in pattern among similar landscapes
• Urban models try to show how different cities have similar spatial relationships and economic or social structures**.**
• Demographic transition models are non-spatial models that use population data to construct a general model of the dynamic growth in national scale populations without reference to space.
• A gravity model is a mathematical model that is used in a number of different types of spatial analysis
  • used to calculate transportation flow between two points, determine the area of influence of a city’s businesses, and estimate the flow of migrants to a particular place
  • Location1 Population x Location2

Why Are Models Used?

• Models are a way to picture geographical patterns that are not normally visible to the human eye and answer theoretical questions
• The concentric zone model can be modified to create a graph showing the cost-to-distance relationship in urban real estate prices.

Geographic Technology

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) became practical with the onset of the desktop computer in the 1970s.

• incorporate one or more data layers in a computer program capable of spatial analysis and mapping.

• The Global Positioning System (GPS) utilizes a worldwide network of satellites, which emit a measurable radio signal

• Aerial photography and satellite-based remote sensing make up a large amount of the geographic and GIS data used today

• Aerial photographs are images of the Earth from an aircraft, printed on film, but digital camera usage is on the increase

• Remote-sensing satellites use a computerized scanner to record data from the Earth’s surface

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