Showing papers in "Environment and Planning A in 1991"

The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem in Multivariate Statistical Analysis

Abstract: In this paper the examination of the modifiable areal unit problem is extended into multivariate statistical analysis. In an investigation of the parameter estimates from a multiple linear regression model and a multiple logit regression model, conclusions are drawn about the sensitivity of such estimates to variations in scale and zoning systems. The modifiable areal unit problem is shown to be essentially unpredictable in its intensity and effects in multivariate statistical analysis and is therefore a much greater problem than in univariate or bivariate analysis. The results of this analysis are rather depressing in that they provide strong evidence of the unreliability of any multivariate analysis undertaken with data from areal units. Given that such analyses can only be expected to increase with the imminent availability of new census data both in the United Kingdom and in the USA, and the current proliferation of GIS (geographical information system) technology which permits even more access to agg...

Deconstructing Regions: Notes on the Scales of Spatial Life

Abstract: The author examines the fundamental categories of geographical thought: region, locality, and place, the keywords in geographical discourse during the 1980s. The relation of these categories to the sociocultural context and the everyday practices of individuals is discussed, and a reinterpretati on of the concept of region as a sociocultural and historical category is put forward. The region is comprehended as a historically contingent process whose institutionalisation consists of four stages: the development of territorial, symbolic, and institutional shape and its establishment as an entity in the regional system and social consciousness of the society. During the institutionalisation process a region becomes an established entity—with a specific regional identity—which is acknowledged in different spheres of social action and consciousness and which is continually reproduced in individual and institutional practices. The constitution of the local or regional consciousness of individuals is interpreted through the concept of place, which refers to personal experience and meanings contained in personal life-histories. These concepts together promote an understanding of how regions can be created and reproduced as part of the regional transformation of society and how individuals are contextualised into this process by reproducing region-specific structures of expectations. Generation is suggested as a mediating category for comprehending the relations between region and place.

The Political Place of Locality Studies

Abstract: In this paper the reasons for studying local areas are examined, and in particular the context of the recent Changing Urban and Regional System Initiative in the United Kingdom. The focus is especially on the sociopolitical context of those studies. The argument is that the reasons for studying localities were in this case both historically and geographically specific. Some confusions around locality studies are also examined, in particular their incorrect equation with concrete research, description, the impact of the spatial on the social, and the postmodern. The discussion then turns to some recent arguments, especially those of Harvey, which imply that local foci are not progressive; the various strands of this position are examined and debated. All this raises the more fundamental question of what is meant by the terms place and locality.

From Localised Social Structures to Localities as Agents

Abstract: The paper is an attempt to clarify the concept of locality for further research by investigating two common meanings of locality: locality as localised social structure and locality as agent. The first is developed through linking local dependence to territorial forms of the division of labour; to enable this a new concept, ‘the scale division of labour’, is introduced. This concept describes what roles in the social division of labour exist at different scales, and hence of what social relations the localised social structure consists. The locality as agent concept is developed from the idea of locally dependent actors with interests in the same locality forming an alliance, acting together to develop and implement strategies to further their interests. This avoids spatial fetishism because locality was first defined not in physical terms, but as localised social structure.

High-Technology Agglomeration and the Labor Market: The Case of Silicon Valley:

Abstract: In this paper the pattern of labor-market activity associated with major high-technology agglomerations within the USA are examined, drawing upon the results of a mailed questionnaire survey of firms in the semiconductor industry. The analysis is focused upon the cluster of specialized semiconductor firms in Silicon Valley, to determine the contribution of local labor-market processes to the growth and development of this high-technology production complex. Fluid employment relations and efficiencies in search and mobility within the local labor market provide Silicon Valley firms remarkable flexibility in meeting their labor demands and help to ensure a rapid circulation of knowledge and information within the production complex. The accelerated transfer of technological knowledge allows Silicon Valley firms to build cumulatively upon a common stock of technological successes and failures, contributing significantly to the innovative dynamism of the region.

Models of the Land-Development Process: A Critical Review

Abstract: In recent years, numerous conceptual models of the land-development process have been produced. In this paper, this material is brought together for the first time; not only are the salient characteristics of these models presented, but also they are evaluated critically in relation to their clarity, applicability, and theoretical underpinnings. Four different categories of model are identified, namely sequential descriptions, behavioural models, production-based analyses, and the structures-of-provision approach. Each of these is reviewed in turn. From this it emerges that the first three approaches have by and large resulted in models that are only partially representative of the complexity and variability inherent in the land-development process. It is concluded that the search for a generally applicable model is, in fact, a futile one, and that energy would be more usefully expended in applying the principles of the ‘structures-of-provision’ approach to the full range of land-development activity, thu...

Spatial Interaction and Spatial Autocorrelation: A Cross-Product Approach

Abstract: A cross-product statistic is used to demonstrate that spatial interaction models are a special case of a general model of spatial autocorrelation. A series of traditional measures of spatial autocorrelation is shown to have a cross-product form. Several interaction models are shown to have a similar form. A general spatial statistic is developed which indicates that the relationship between the two types of models is particularly strong when the focus is on measurements from a single point.

Behind the Locality Debate: Deconstructing Geography's Dualisms

Abstract: The debate about locality studies has provided a focus for wider concerns about method and the relationship of theory and empirical research in urban and regional studies. Discussion of these issues has been plagued by conceptual confusion. Where realist philosophy has been invoked in the debate it has frequently been misunderstood. The problems derive from unexamined and inconsistent usages of a series of dualisms or binary oppositions: viz, contextualising versus nomological (law-seeking) approaches, abstract and concrete, necessity and contingency, theory and empirics, and generality and specificity. When the various uses of these terms are examined it is found that the assumed contrasts either break down or involve more complex relationships than is commonly realised. The main purpose of the paper is to deconstruct the dualisms and expose some of the confusions they generate by reference to the locality debate. A subsidiary theme concerns the way in which different conceptions of generality, specifici...

Mapping Meanings: A Cultural Critique of Locality Studies:

Abstract: Much of the recent ‘locality studies’ literature suffers from a poorly theorised conception of the cultural dimensions of social and economic change. Despite frequent references to political cultures, regional traditions, and local loyalties, the emphasis of most ‘locality studies’ has been on questions of employment, spatial divisions of labour, and the geography of production, specified in terms of local labour markets. There has been some discussion of the social definition of skill, the meaning of ‘work’, and the intersection of class and gender relations in particular places at specific times. But the significance of local cultures has been much less carefully theorised, leading to an unnecessarily truncated analysis of urban and regional change. The author suggests some alternative theorisations of ‘local culture’, drawing on concepts of cultural politics (from Stuart Hall), structures of feeling (Raymond Williams), cultural capital (Pierre Bourdieu) and local knowledge (Clifford Geertz). These noti...

Techniques for modelling population-related roster databases.

Abstract: In this paper the refinement and application of a technique for the generation of surface models of population and related information are examined. With use of this technique the efficient generation of geographically extensive, high-resolution surfaces is described. The resulting database facilitates a range of improved spatial analyses. Some of these are more flexible means of accomplishing conventional tasks, such as the computation of incidence rates and the estimation of population for nonstandard areal units. Additionally, surface concepts are able to support innovative techniques, such as the identification and characterization of discrete settlements. Applications are described which demonstrate the range of possible analyses.

Generating Urban Forms from Diffusive Growth

Abstract: In this paper, a formal model of diffusion-limited aggregation is presented which can be used to generate a continuum of urban forms from linear to concentric. A brief derivation of this continuum model is presented in terms of its relationship to potential theory, and a method for its solution is outlined. The forms produced by the model are subject to fractional power laws which relate the occupancy of sites and densities to distances. Fractal dimensions can be derived from these fractional powers, and conventional and fast methods of estimation are introduced. A large-scale simulation provides the baseline for comparison and its average fractal dimension is estimated as 1.701 ± 0.025 from thirty aggregates. The effect of constraining the physical limits of the lattice on which such aggregates are grown is explored and the model is then used to generate a continuum of forms determined by a control parameter which distorts the potential field of the model. A series of forms from the linear with fractal d...

Shift-Share Analysis as a Linear Model:

Abstract: Shift-share analysis continues to be popular among geographers, regional scientists, and planners despite widespread criticism of the method. In this paper, it is argued that insufficient attention has been paid to model-based approaches to shift—share analysis. It is shown that conventional shift—share and stochastic shift—share yield identical conclusions. Stochastic shift—share is easily extended dynamically and along the lines suggested by Arcelus. Thus, in the stochastic models several of the most persistent criticisms of the technique are addressed by allowing for testing of hypotheses, while preserving the practicality of the conventional accounting approach. It is suggested that stochastic shift—share should be used whenever practical.

The Empirical Analysis of Housing Careers: A Review and a General Statistical Modelling Framework

Abstract: It is argued that the notion of housing careers has an important potential role in integrating the diverse theoretical perspectives which characterise research into residential mobility and tenure choice. By the synthesis of concepts from a range of theoretical and empirical traditions, a statistical modelling framework is developed that treats housing careers as trajectories from a dynamic optimisation process. This framework is operationalised in a companion paper that reports an empirical study of housing careers in Cardiff.

Is the ‘Golden Age’ of British Grocery Retailing at a Watershed?

Abstract: Is the 'golden age' of British grocery retailing at a watershed? On several occasions in recent years, I have used my editorial commentaries to draw attention to the extraordinary rise and transformation of corporate power in the British grocery retailing industry, the restructuring of which has created some of the largest corporations in Britain and resulted in an important transatlantic flow of capital (Wrigley, 1987; 1989; Hallsworth, 1990). Recent events suggest that I should return to this theme and pose two questions which have considerable significance for both the structure of British cities and the future trajectory of what has commonly been regarded as one of the most dynamic and central components of Britain's service economy. My two questions are: 'will the 1990s see a continuation of what has been described as the 'golden age' of British grocery retailing?' and 'who will pay for any continuation of that 'golden age'?'

Skilled International Migration: An Analysis of the Geography of International Secondments within Large Accountancy Firms

Abstract: In this paper the issue of skilled transient movements (international secondments) within large multinational accountancy firms are considered. The principal arguments in the paper are that chartered accountants are involved in transient moves through global secondment programmes as a response to the corporate strategy of the firm and as a tool which enhances the career development of the individual.

The Relative Utility of the Central Postcode Directory and Pinpoint Address Code in Applications of Geographical Information Systems

Abstract: Considerable use is made of postcoded data in GIS (geographical information system) research. This is especially true of applications in geodemographics and epidemiology, but the work described here is of relevance in any attempt to attach specific locational identifiers to unit postcodes in Britain. Conventionally, unit postcodes are given an explicit spatial reference by means of the Central Postcode Directory (CPD), in which 100-metre grid references are assigned to each postcode. However, in a major undertaking, the company Pinpoint Analysis Ltd is digitising every property, both domestic and commercial, in the country. This gives a 1 metre grid reference for each such property; from the set of all addresses in a unit postcode a centroid may be obtained.In this paper the locational referencing provided by the ‘Pinpoint Address Code’ is compared with that of the CPD. The empirical work draws on data for Camden in London, but reference is made to earlier work in Whitehaven. We make some observations on ...

AIDS deaths in the Bronx 1983-1988: spatiotemporal analysis from a sociogeographic perspective.

Abstract: Patterns of AIDS deaths, in space and time, are examined for the populous Bronx section of New York City in view of the continuing massive destruction of housing and disruption of community which has affected the South Bronx since the early 1970s. Annual Bronx AIDS deaths are studied simultaneously in geographic space and in a dual ‘social variate’ space, and it is found that study of linked changes in each deeply illuminates patterns in both. This analysis reinforces a rapidly growing body of work which suggests control of AIDS in the United States, particularly prevention of a widespread and relentlessly rising heterosexual phase of the epidemic, may well prove impossible without a timely, general, and considerable program of reform and renewal for its disintegrating inner cities.

Geographic Information Abstractions: Conceptual Clarity for Geographic Modeling

Abstract: Just as we abstract our reality to make life intellectually manageable, we must create abstractions when we build models of geographic structure and process. Geographic information abstractions with aspects of theme, time, and space can be used to provide a comprehensive description of geographic reality in a geographic information system (GIS): In the context of geographic modeling a geographic information abstraction is defined as a simultaneous focus on important characteristics of geographic content, structure, and process while temporarily suppressing certain details—rather than elimination or deletion of detail. Geographic information abstractions can be used in a database design process to develop a more realistic description of reality in the form of a database model. The geographic information abstraction types are: classification, generalization, aggregation, and association. They are used to structure a descriptive GIS database model by using an example from urban transportation. The embedding ...

Discourses of Locality

Abstract: This paper is an attempt to combat economism in locality studies. New developments in cultural studies, sociolinguistics, and social psychology concerning ideology, culture, and the significance of...

The Break-up of an International Labour Union: Uneven Development in the North American Auto Industry and the Schism in the UAW

Abstract: In 1985, after being represented by the United Automobile Workers union (UAW) for almost half a century, Canadian autoworkers split from the International Union to form their own independent union, the CAW. To date, most interpretations have attributed the split to political, cultural, and ideological differences between the US and Canadian sections of the union. Through an analysis of restructuring and collective bargaining in the North American automobile industry, it is argued in this paper that the split in the UAW was rooted in the tensions that arose over the different, and increasingly incompatible, bargaining agendas and strategies adopted by the Canadian and US sections of the union during the 1980s. The analysis shows that these differences in strategy resulted primarily from the geographically uneven effects of the significant restructuring which was taking place in the North American automobile industry during this period.

An Analysis of Housing Careers in Cardiff

Abstract: Data on housing careers in Cardiff are analysed within the statistical modelling framework developed in a companion paper. Several simplifying assumptions were necessary to overcome complex statistical and computational problems but the results obtained appear to be robust. However, these results include some features which were unexpected and difficult to interpret.

School-Performance Indicators, the Local Residential Environment, and Parental Choice

Abstract: The results of unadjusted national tests are to be used as school-performance indicators to monitor school effectiveness and to form part of the basis on which parental choice will operate. In this paper, it is argued that educationists, in their desire to show that schools matter, have reinforced the arguments of the political Right, often unintentionally, and have neglected the effects of the social geography of catchments. On the basis of past and present research findings, it is argued that any adjustments to the indicators need to consider the effects of the local environment and perhaps parental choice itself, as well as prior attainment and social class. The impracticality of making such adjustments, the difficulty of establishing a standardised effect of local environments across the country, and the problems of disentangling school effects from those of social geography, cast great doubt on the use even of adjusted indicators as a meaningful basis for parental choice. These indicators, as one of ...

Price Patterns in Competitively Clustered Markets

Abstract: In this paper, numerical analyses of price competition in spatial markets are presented. How equilibrium conditions are affected by the geographic distribution of firms and their pricing behavior is illustrated. Simulated and empirical findings suggest that clustering of competitors in space tends to promote lower overall price levels. It is posited that competitive market clusters may be responsible for the adoption of lower price conjectures. In theory, this suggests that the spatial structure of a market can create context-specific price-reaction functions that are sensitive to the relative locations of firms and distance to nearest and next-nearest rivals. Point-pattern and nearest-neighbor analyses of store locations for rival food chains in a major metropolitan market show that rivals tend to cluster in space, and that chain outlets in competitive market clusters demonstrate a tendency to support lower prices.

The Relationship between Residential Migration and Housing Tenure in London, 1971–81: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract: In this paper, OPCS (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys) 1% longitudinal study data for a sample of 60500 individuals were used to examine the relationships between housing tenure and residential migration in inner and outer London between 1971 and 1981. Three questions are examined. First, the extent to which migration rates within and from London differ by tenure and their links to differences in the socioeconomic composition of tenures; second, the extent to which different tenure structures are associated with different migration patterns; and third the relationship between patterns of tenure origins and destinations. It is argued that geographical differences in housing tenure structures play an important part in influencing migration flows, and that changes in tenure structure may influence migration.

Modeling the Choice of Choice Set in Discrete-Choice Random-Utility Models

Abstract: In conventional random-utility models, such as the multinomial logit model, it is assumed that a decisionmaker's choice set is independent of his or her preferences conditional on the explanatory variables of the models. However, there are many situations in which the decisionmaker chooses the choice set, thereby making the independence assumption implausible. For example, if information about alternatives is costly, an individual may choose to learn in detail about only a small group of them. This paper is concerned with the modeling of discrete choice with endogenous choice sets. It is assumed that costly information forces the decisionmaker to acquire detailed knowledge of only a small group of alternatives that she or he selects. Models are developed for choice-set generation in this context and for choice conditional on endogenous choice sets.

The Spatial Spread of the AIDS Epidemic in Ohio: Empirical Analyses Using the Expansion Method:

Abstract: The expansion methodology is applied to investigating the spatial spread of the AIDS epidemic in Ohio. To this effect, the spread of the epidemic is conceptualized as the parametric drift of mathematical relationships capable of representing the temporal dynamics of the cumulative count of AIDS cases. The results suggest a deceleration in the growth of AIDS in geographical environments characterized by population densities past a critical threshold.

Divisions of Homeownership: Housing Tenure and Social Change

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the way in which housing tenure categories are used in analysis of social change in Britain. The tendency to represent tenures as unchanging, homogeneous categories with exclusive attributes is discussed. It is argued that it is important to assess the ways in which dominant housing tenures have been changing and to highlight differentiation within tenures. This discussion is mainly pursued in relation to debates about homeownership. Reference is made to the need to appreciate various elements contributing to the growth of homeownership and various differences between homeowners in terms of accommodation, legal rights, material interest, security, and social class. In conclusion it is argued that polarised presentations of homogeneous tenures are an inadequate basis for discussion and that recognition of key divisions within tenures is important in developing an understanding of the relationship between housing and social change.

Interfirm Information Linkages in an Economically Disadvantaged Region: An Empirical Perspective from Metropolitan Buffalo

Abstract: The external information linkages of industrial firms in two sectors of Buffalo's manufacturing base—medical instruments, and chemicals—are examined. Survey data are presented which indicate a positive role for imported technical services in local product innovation, export activity, and technology diffusion. The data reveal that firms which import a substantial proportion of their external technical inputs hold a competitive advantage over their counterparts which depend solely on local suppliers. The data also reveal that larger manufacturers are more likely to import technical services than smaller firms. Evidence from the sample is then contrasted against recent empirical streams in the literature on producer services, regional growth, and industrial innovation. It is argued that urban centres with weak producer service endowment may in some instances import key inputs from other regions. On a more cautious note, it is suggested that this option may not be feasible for small manufacturers, many of whi...

Factors Motivating Community Participation in Regional Water-Allocation Planning: A Test of an Expectancy-Value Model

Abstract: The attitudinal determinants of intention to participate in planning for water allocation were assessed among residents of Jandakot, Western Australia. An expectancy-value attitudinal model was developed to assess the relationship between intention to participate and (a) attitudes towards the process of public involvement, (b) subjective norms, and (c) attitudes towards possible outcomes of involvement. It was hypothesised that other attitudinal variables associated with intention to participate would be mediated through these variables. The model was tested against alternative explanatory variables including centrality, self efficacy, political efficacy, and moral norms. Regression analyses indicated that behavioural intention was best predicted by centrality, attitudes towards the process, and subjective norms. Thus the model was not wholly supported. The results are discussed in terms of the development of the theory of centrality and the roles of process and outcome in the evaluation of regional versu...