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- DictionaryHu·man ge·og·ra·phy/ˈ(h)yo͞omən jiˈäɡrəfē/
noun
- 1. the branch of geography dealing with how human activity affects or is influenced by the earth's surface.
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Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban redevelopment. [1]
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Aug 9, 2024 · A short definition for Human Geography. The study of the interrelationships between people, place, and environment, and how these vary spatially and temporally across and between locations.
- Lucinda M. Hall
- 2011
- Overview
- Human geography
- People and the environment: the physical and the human
Since 1945 human geography has contained five main divisions. The first four—economic, social, cultural, and political—reflect both the main areas of contemporary life and the social science disciplines with which geographers interact (i.e., economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science and international relations, respectively); the fifth is historical geography. All five have remained central, being joined in the mid- to late 20th century by concentrations on particular types of areas, notably urban. Research interests in specific regions have declined, and relatively few geographers now identify themselves as experts on a particular part of the world.
Economic geography has a long pedigree. Its traditional focus has been the distribution of various productive activities—with subdivisions into, for example, the geography of agriculture, industrial geography, and the geography of services—and patterns of trade such as transport geography. Such concentrations were strengthened by the move into spatial analysis. Relatively little work in that mold is now undertaken, however, and the models of idealized economic landscapes that dominated in the 1960s and ’70s are now rarely deployed or taught. Part of the change reflects economic shifts, notably the extension of globalization. Transport costs have decreasing significance for many location decisions, relative to labour and other costs. Instead, the decision making of transnational corporations dominates the changing global pattern of activity, reflecting a wide range of political as well as economic concerns regarding the profitability of investing in different countries and regions. Much contemporary work studies company locational decision-making processes, the regulatory regimes of individual states (including policies designed to attract and retain investment), and their impact on the pattern of economic activity.
Economic and cultural worlds are closely intertwined. Many individual economic decisions in advanced industrial countries—e.g., what to buy, where to eat, and where to take vacations—reflect not needs but rather culturally induced preferences, which change rapidly, in part responding to advertising and media discussions of tastes and fashions. To some commentators, this generates a significant shift in the major features of capitalist production and consumption. It is moving away from mass products manufactured on large assembly lines toward myriad small niche markets with factories having relatively short production lines and rapid changes in the details of their products. Economic geographers investigate how markets for goods and services are culturally created and changed and the implications for both where production occurs and where jobs are created and destroyed.
Political geography also has a considerable pedigree, although it attracted little attention during the mid-20th century. Its main concerns are with the state and its territory—with states’ external relations and the relationships between governments and citizens. The geography of conflict incorporates both local conflicts, over such matters as land use and environmental issues, and international conflicts, including the growth of nationalism and the creation of new states. Electoral geography is a small subfield, concerned with voting patterns and the translation of votes into legislative seats through the deployment of territorially defined electoral districts.
Social geography concentrates on divisions within society, initially class, ethnicity, and, to a lesser extent, religion; however, more recently others have been added, such as gender, sexual orientation, and age. Mapping where different groups are concentrated is a common activity, especially within urban areas, as is investigating the related inequalities and conflicts. Such mappings are complemented by more-detailed studies of the role of place and space in social behaviour—as with studies of the geography of crime and of educational provision—and in how mental representations of those geographies are created and transmitted.
Other subdisciplines associated with social geography are sometimes seen as separate. Population geography is largely concerned with the three main demographic characteristics of fertility, mortality, and migration; investigations using census and other data are complemented by detailed case studies of decision making, such as whether and where to migrate and how relevant information is received and processed. Medical geography focuses on patterns of disease and death—of how diseases spread, for example, and how variations in morbidity and mortality rates reflect local environments—and on geographies of health care provision.
Since 1945 human geography has contained five main divisions. The first four—economic, social, cultural, and political—reflect both the main areas of contemporary life and the social science disciplines with which geographers interact (i.e., economics, sociology, anthropology, and political science and international relations, respectively); the fifth is historical geography. All five have remained central, being joined in the mid- to late 20th century by concentrations on particular types of areas, notably urban. Research interests in specific regions have declined, and relatively few geographers now identify themselves as experts on a particular part of the world.
Economic geography has a long pedigree. Its traditional focus has been the distribution of various productive activities—with subdivisions into, for example, the geography of agriculture, industrial geography, and the geography of services—and patterns of trade such as transport geography. Such concentrations were strengthened by the move into spatial analysis. Relatively little work in that mold is now undertaken, however, and the models of idealized economic landscapes that dominated in the 1960s and ’70s are now rarely deployed or taught. Part of the change reflects economic shifts, notably the extension of globalization. Transport costs have decreasing significance for many location decisions, relative to labour and other costs. Instead, the decision making of transnational corporations dominates the changing global pattern of activity, reflecting a wide range of political as well as economic concerns regarding the profitability of investing in different countries and regions. Much contemporary work studies company locational decision-making processes, the regulatory regimes of individual states (including policies designed to attract and retain investment), and their impact on the pattern of economic activity.
Economic and cultural worlds are closely intertwined. Many individual economic decisions in advanced industrial countries—e.g., what to buy, where to eat, and where to take vacations—reflect not needs but rather culturally induced preferences, which change rapidly, in part responding to advertising and media discussions of tastes and fashions. To some commentators, this generates a significant shift in the major features of capitalist production and consumption. It is moving away from mass products manufactured on large assembly lines toward myriad small niche markets with factories having relatively short production lines and rapid changes in the details of their products. Economic geographers investigate how markets for goods and services are culturally created and changed and the implications for both where production occurs and where jobs are created and destroyed.
Political geography also has a considerable pedigree, although it attracted little attention during the mid-20th century. Its main concerns are with the state and its territory—with states’ external relations and the relationships between governments and citizens. The geography of conflict incorporates both local conflicts, over such matters as land use and environmental issues, and international conflicts, including the growth of nationalism and the creation of new states. Electoral geography is a small subfield, concerned with voting patterns and the translation of votes into legislative seats through the deployment of territorially defined electoral districts.
Social geography concentrates on divisions within society, initially class, ethnicity, and, to a lesser extent, religion; however, more recently others have been added, such as gender, sexual orientation, and age. Mapping where different groups are concentrated is a common activity, especially within urban areas, as is investigating the related inequalities and conflicts. Such mappings are complemented by more-detailed studies of the role of place and space in social behaviour—as with studies of the geography of crime and of educational provision—and in how mental representations of those geographies are created and transmitted.
Other subdisciplines associated with social geography are sometimes seen as separate. Population geography is largely concerned with the three main demographic characteristics of fertility, mortality, and migration; investigations using census and other data are complemented by detailed case studies of decision making, such as whether and where to migrate and how relevant information is received and processed. Medical geography focuses on patterns of disease and death—of how diseases spread, for example, and how variations in morbidity and mortality rates reflect local environments—and on geographies of health care provision.
Historical geographers have long investigated landscape change. Their work now informs investigations of global environmental changes as well as illustrating past human-induced environmental modifications. Other research evaluates contemporary environmental changes and their implications not only for environmental futures but also for individual life chances.
Such studies occupy the intersection of physical and human geography, although relatively little work involves collaboration among human and physical geographers. For the latter, it involves incorporating human-induced changes to models of environmental processes and systems. Human geographers’ concerns range widely, from pragmatically applied work on environmental policy and management through political ecology to explorations of culture-nature interrelations.
Jul 19, 2023 · Human geography is the study of how people interact with space and each other, and how space shapes culture, politics, and economy. Learn about the history, concepts, and strains of human geography, from cultural geography to political geography to economic geography.
Human geography is the study of the cultural aspects of people and how they relate to the spaces and places they inhabit. Learn about the history, methods, and specialized fields of human geography, also known as cultural geography.
Sep 3, 2024 · A brief overview of human geography as the study of human activity and its interactions with the environment. Find definitions, examples, and related entries from various sources and disciplines.
Human geography is the study of how human societies interact with their physical environment. Learn more about this field, its scope, methods, and applications with examples from various sources.
