Showing papers in "The Professional Geographer in 2005"

Interprovincial Migration, Population Redistribution, and Regional Development in China: 1990 and 2000 Census Comparisons*

Abstract: Until recently, migration has had a limited role to play in China's space economy because of central-planning logic and mechanisms. Mobility increases and economic restructuring since the 1980s, however, call for new conceptualizations of migration. Using interprovincial migration data from China's 1990 and 2000 censuses, I analyze migration rates, migration effectiveness, population growth, net migration flows, and spatial focusing of migration. The analysis supports the notions that migration is an increasingly effective factor of population redistribution and that it has a strong relationship with regional development. While these relationships have been documented in many other parts of the world, they have been less well addressed in the case of China. Regional divergence in economic development during the 1990s was accompanied by a marked increase in interprovincial migration and sharply concentrated migration flows, especially from relatively poor central and western provinces to the rapid...

Measuring the Digital Divide in the United States: Race, Income, and Personal Computer Ownership

Abstract: This article demonstrates how the Lorenz Curve and the Gini coefficient can be used to measure inequalities in home personal computer (PC) ownership in the United States at the national, regional, and state levels. Our empirical investigation, based on supplemental data from the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census, indicates that income inequalities are substantially smaller within white households owning a PC than African American households, at all geographic scales. While income inequalities among PC owners (households) have decreased between 1994 and 2001 in all regions and states, the magnitude of this inequality has declined more rapidly among whites compared to African Americans.

Residential Burglaries and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Context in London, Ontario: Global and Local Regression Analysis*

Abstract: The main aim of this article is to analyze the relationships between the spatial patterns of residential burglaries and the socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods in London, Ontario. Relative risk ratios are applied as a measure of the intensity of residential burglary. The variation in the risks of burglary is modeled as a function of contextual neighborhood variables. Following a conventional (global) regression analysis, spatial variations in the relationships are examined using geographically weighted regression (GWR). The GWR results show that there are significant local variations in the relationships between the risk of residential burglary victimization and the average value of dwellings and percentage of the population in multifamily housing. The results are discussed in the context of four hypotheses, which may explain geographical variations in residential burglary. The practical implication of the GWR analysis is that different crime prevention policies should be implemented i...

Formulating a General Spatial Segregation Measure

Abstract: Most traditional segregation measures, such as the index of dissimilarity D, fail to distinguish spatial patterns effectively. Previously proposed spatial measures modifying D suffer from several shortcomings. This article describes a general spatial segregation index based upon the concept of composite population counts, which are derived from grouping people in neighboring areas together to account implicitly for spatial interaction of groups across unit boundaries. The suggested spatial index can overcome the disadvantages of previous indices and can assess the spatial extent of the segregated clusters. The results offer a more comprehensive depiction of spatial segregation of a region. * This project is partly funded by the Russell Sage Foundation Project #: 97–01–02

The Imagined Economies of Globalization

Abstract: Angus Cameron and Ronen Palan. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004. vi and 186 pp. notes and index. $32.95 paperback (ISBN 0-7619-72110-0). Understanding Globalization. Tony Scirato and Jenn...

Combining Sample and Census Data in Small Area Estimates: Iterative Proportional Fitting with Standard Software

Abstract: The combination of detailed sample data with less detailed but fully enumerated marginal subtotals is the focus of a wide range of research. In this article we advocate careful modeling of sample data, followed by Iterative Proportional Fitting (IPF). The modeling aims to estimate accurately the interaction or odds ratios of complex tables, which is information not contained in the marginal subtotals. IPF ensures consistency with the subtotals. We advance this work in three practical ways. First, we show that detailed small-area estimates of both counts and proportional distributions usually gain accuracy by combining data for larger areas containing the small areas, and we illustrate the multilevel framework to achieve these estimates. Second, we find that a general classification or socioeconomic typology of the small areas is even more associated with the within-area interactions than is membership of the larger area. Third, we show how the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) ca...

The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities

Abstract: This book explores the dynamics that have accompanied the implementation of large-scale Urban Development Projects (UDPs) in nine European cities within the European Union (EU). The principal aim is to show how the production of these new urban spaces is actually also part of the production of a new polity, a new economy, and new forms of living urban life that are not very promising for a socially harmonious and just future for metropolitan urban Europe.

Commuting and Gender in Italy: A Methodological Issue*

Abstract: Commuting in Italy has always been addressed without regard to gender differences. Following the issuance of a comprehensive database by the National Statistical Institute, it is now possible to analyze gender differences in personal mobility for the first time in Italy. For our analyses we used Local Labor Systems (LLS) zoning in lieu of administrative zoning. LLSs are territorial subdivisions based on the principle of a self-contained labor market and are widely used in Italy. This article also reports the results of a multidimensional data analysis aimed at highlighting relations between different gender-based commuting patterns and a set of variables (education level, age, household structure, occupational category, and position, etc.). The analysis points out gender differences in the relationship among commuting and socioeconomic characteristics, reveals that these relationships are in turn related to the economic structure and geographical context of different regional labor markets, and s...

Policy Performance and Brownfield Redevelopment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin*

Abstract: The redevelopment of brownfield sites has become a central focus of government efforts aimed at developing and revitalizing urban areas in the U.S. This article examines brownfield redevelopment efforts in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, which gained momentum in the mid-1990s, in order to determine how Milwaukee is performing in terms of redevelopment activities, what the effects of government support of such activities have been, and how performance outcomes are currently being measured. Through an examination of government data and interviews with key stakeholders, the Milwaukee case reveals that redevelopment is indeed progressing well as government becomes more effective at tackling the barriers to private-sector redevelopment. However, progress in redeveloping brownfields is still being measured primarily in terms of economic development outcomes rather than in terms of the broader social, economic, and environmental objectives that both policy makers and private-sector stakeholders associate w...

Forest Clearing Among Farm Households in the Maya Biosphere Reserve

Abstract: Central America's tropical forests have been felled more rapidly than those of any other world region during the latter half of the twentieth century. During this time, nearly half of Guatemala's forests were eliminated. Most of this deforestation has been concentrated in the northern department of Peten. The remaining forests in Peten are now mainly concentrated in the Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), the heart of the largest lowland tropical forest in Central America. The pace, magnitude, and geography of this trend is of critical importance to forest conservation and rural development efforts. This article examines socioeconomic, political, demographic, and ecological factors behind settler land use and forest clearing among 241 farm households in the Sierra de Lacandon National Park (SLNP), a core conservation zone of the MBR. Some of the factors positively related to forest clearing were household size, Q'eqchi Maya ethnicity, land owned in the previous residence, farm size, land title, and the...

Cartographic Visualization: An Assessment and Epistemological Review*

Abstract: This article examines the concept of cartographic visualization. The value of cartographic visualization as an essential component in the study of geographic phenomena is discussed. Ontological and epistemological perspectives are addressed, with examinations of positivist, realist, postmodern, feminist, and anarchist approaches to visualization. Critiques of cartographic visualization from social theorists and quantitative positivists are presented. The author asserts that cartographic visualization is not restricted to any one particular epistemological framework but may combine methods of knowledge production. For comprehensive analysis of spatial data, cartographic visualization must be included along with other qualitative and quantitative analysis. *I would like to thank three anonymous reviewers, as well as Zhi-Yong Yin and Jeffery McMichael, for their insightful comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank Andrew J. Herod and the “8910 Support Group” for the stimulating reading an...

Mentoring Early Career Faculty in Geography: Issues and Strategies*

Abstract: Early career geography faculty in colleges and universities in the United States are positioned at the leading edge of a challenging period of change in higher education. Demands brought on by new technologies, new administrative and research pressures, and an increasingly competitive campus climate, may make it difficult to balance teaching, research, and service while also trying to maintain a personal life. This article argues that many geographers could benefit from the support of mentoring. Using ideas generated by participants in the Association of American Geographers' recent project, the Geography Faculty Development Alliance, I provide both pragmatic and personal suggestions for establishing these all-important mentoring relationships to help cope with the pressures facing early career faculty. *The author thanks Kenneth Foote, Michal Levasseur, Stanley Brunn, and Susan Hume for their inspiration and guidance on this paper and the more than forty panelists at AAG and NCGE mentoring sessi...

Incorporating Spatial Dependence in Predictive Vegetation Models: Residual Interpolation Methods*

Abstract: Predictive vegetation modeling can be used statistically to relate the distribution of vegetation across a landscape as a function of important environmental variables. Often these models are developed without considering the spatial pattern that is inherent in biogeographical data, resulting from either biotic processes or missing or misspecified environmental variables. Including spatial dependence explicitly in a predictive model can be an efficient way to improve model accuracy with the available data. In this study, model residuals were interpolated and added to model predictions, and the resulting prediction accuracies were assessed. Adding kriged residuals improved model accuracy more often than adding simulated residuals, although some alliances showed no improvement or worse accuracy when residuals were added. In general, the prediction accuracies that were not increased by adding kriged residuals were either rare in the sample or had high nonspatial model accuracy. Regression interpolat...

The Distribution and Enforcement of Air Polluting Facilities in New Jersey

Abstract: This study examines the spatial distribution and enforcement of air polluting facilities in the state of New Jersey, as listed in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Aerometric Information Retrieval System. Results show that air-polluting facilities tend to concentrate near minority neighborhoods, although this relationship is partially explained by factors of population density, manufacturing employment, and land use. Other results suggest that facilities in areas with a relatively high percentage of minority population tend to have a weaker record of environmental enforcement as compared to other facilities. Of the socioeconomic variables considered, employment in manufacturing appears to be the most strongly related to environmental enforcement.

Heterolocalism, Networks of Ethnicity, and Refugee Communities in the Pacific Northwest: The Portland Story*

Abstract: Geographic studies of refugee issues have emerged as salient topics of inquiry in the past decade. This spatial analysis of the migration experiences and heterolocal settlement patterns of refugees in an increasingly diverse part of the Pacific Northwest focuses on a place that the Atlantic Monthly recently called the last Caucasian bastion in the United States. Perceived as a region better known for its dense forests, progressive environmental policies, and rural ambience, the Portland metropolitan area and its hinterland in the Willamette Valley now resonate with ethnic and racial diversity. This article analyzes the spatial patterns and related networks of the three largest refugee groups in the region. Findings indicate that an overlapping and interrelated set of political, social, cultural, and economic networks are the most important factors in determining refugee residential patterns.

Geography and History: Bridging the Divide

Abstract: tional NGOs (Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth, the Association of Progressive Communications, and One World) that use the Internet for targeting specific audiences and integrate various geographical scales into their communication strategies. Rodgers points out the limitations of these activities and the organizations’ attention to costs and benefits. The second example takes up independent online media dissemination of information that is framed to offer alternative perspectives to those of governments or mainstream media. The latter tend to report on the nature of demonstrations, for example, rather than on the causes and views of activists. Chapter 6, on issue-specific protests, presents the cases of genetically modified foods and of antimissile defense activism in the U.K. and Alaska. Aspects of local and larger scales are examined, together with the integration of Internet and other modes of communication. She highlights how the cases illustrate different local uses of the Internet. Chapter 7, ‘‘Spatializing Activism,’’ is intended to draw together the conceptual and empirical material, as is the final concluding chapter. Attention to each of Lefebvre’s three categories is explicit. I expected rather more than the author provides, however. Whereas she refers to her case studies to make (and qualify) generalizations, readers whom she aims to convince of the value of the spatial theories and methods are offered only limited links back to the case studies. For example, in discussing the concept of spatial practices, she notes that the Internet can allow large NGOs to extend their geographical reach by transcending national boundaries, thereby increasing the visibility of their causes and reducing hierarchical communication. At the same time, she acknowledges that there are excluded constituencies and that the Internet, in some respects, does not provide so much a new process in constructing spaces of representation (i.e., bringing new actors) as in enhancing existing functions. I would have found her arguments for the utility of spatial theories more compelling for her intended audience if they had been more integrated analytically into the primarily descriptive treatment of the case studies. As it is, I had to keep referring back to the details of Chapters 5 and 6 to remember just how the later generalizations reflected the empirical evidence. My reaction may partly reflect my lack of immersion in Lefebvre and my not having internalized the empirical material as much as the author has. Despite these reservations, I nevertheless see Rodgers as having taken on an important task in seeking to find frameworks that will more adequately address transnational and activist politics, as well as their intersections with new and pervasive technologies, than will traditional scholarship in IR. The book will interest geographers both because of its research on the contemporary phenomenon of the Internet and transnational politics and as an example of how a scholar in another field takes up and advocates wider attention to spatial theorizing.

A Commentary on the Use of Touch for Accessing On-Screen Spatial Representations: The Process of Experiencing Haptic Maps and Graphics

Abstract: The growth of the Internet and the digital revolution have meant increased reliance on electronic representations of information. Geospatial information has been readily adapted to the world of cyberspace, and most Web pages incorporate graphics, images, or maps to represent spatial and spatialized data. But flat computer screens do not facilitate a map or graph experience by those who are visually impaired. The traditional method for compensating for nonvisual access to maps and graphics has been to construct hard-copy tactile maps. In this article, we examine an electronic accommodation for nonvisual users—the haptic map. Using new and off-the-shelf hardware—force feedback and vibrotactile mice—we explore how touch can be combined with virtual representations of shapes and patterns to enable nonvisual access to onscreen map or graphic material.

A Manifesto on Mobile Computing in Geographic Education

Abstract: Mobile, location-aware computing technology is widely available. In this article we sketch out a manifesto on mobile computing in geographic education (MoGeo) for consideration and debate within the geographic community. At the core of our argument is the idea that emerging mobile computing technologies will allow teachers to bring the classroom and pedagogic materials into the field, and that the resulting in situ educational experience will enhance learning by contextualizing the complex and abstract concepts that we teach. We provide a set of key principles that can guide the development of field experiences for students using these new technologies.

Anglo-American Electoral Geography: Same Roots and Same Goals, but Different Means and Ends?*

Abstract: Electoral geographers in the United States and the United Kingdom have similar goals but pursue these through different means. In part, these reflect differences between the two countries' electoral and political systems, but they also reflect different methodological strategies and desired ends. Drawing on the U.K. experience, this article identifies areas for possible expansion in studies of the electoral geography of the United States, which are expressed as five challenges.

Using a Computational Grid for Geographic Information Analysis: A Reconnaissance

Abstract: High performance computing has undergone a radical transformation during the past decade. Though monolithic supercomputers continue to be built with significantly increased computing power, geographically distributed computing resources are now routinely linked using high-speed networks to address a broad range of computationally complex problems. These confederated resources are referred to collectively as a computational Grid. Many geographical problems exhibit characteristics that make them candidates for this new model of computing. As an illustration, we describe a spatial statistics problem and demonstrate how it can be addressed using Grid computing strategies. A key element of this application is the development of middleware that handles domain decomposition and coordinates computational functions. We also discuss the development of Grid portals that are designed to help researchers and decision makers access and use geographic information analysis tools.

Ethnic residential segregation across an urban system : the Maori in New Zealand, 1991-2001

Abstract: In New Zealand there are substantial variations across the urban system in the degree of residential segregation of those claiming Maori ethnicity. Analyses of those variations, using measures particularly relevant to comparative study, show that Maori segregation was greatest in both 1991 and 2001 in larger urban areas and, especially, in those with relatively large Maori populations. A major deviation from this general pattern was in Auckland; further analysis suggests that this was because of considerable sharing of residential space involving Maori and Pacific Islanders. If the total population claiming a Polynesian identity is studied, the relationships between segregation and both size and Polynesian population share are clarified.

Forest Cover Change in the Toledo District, Belize from 1975 to 1999: A Remote Sensing Approach*

Abstract: Measuring land-cover change is an essential part of sustainable conservation planning. This project uses Landsat MSS and ETM+ data to document forest cover change in the Toledo District, Belize, from 1975 to 1999 and provides an initial assessment of why these changes took place. Supervised and subpixel classification methods were employed. The results showed an aggregate forest loss of almost 10 percent, which is approximately 36,000 ha. Deforestation expanded significantly in the most populous Mayan areas of central Toledo District and along the Guatemalan border. Subpixel classification results showed that in 1999 the most densely forested areas were in northern Toledo District in the Maya Mountains. *Fieldwork for this research was supported by the National Science Foundation (Award #0349512).

A Comparison of Methods to Predict Soil Surface Texture in an Alluvial Basin

Abstract: Surface soil texture controls many important ecological, hydrological, and geomorphic processes in arid regions and is therefore important from a land-management perspective. Soil survey efforts have traditionally fulfilled this need, but they are constrained by the size, remoteness, and inaccessibility of many arid regions, which renders simple field measurements prohibitively expensive. This article compares several different predictive soil-mapping techniques with a sparse data set in order to develop surficial soil texture maps. Our results suggest that data collected at the landscape scale can be used as input to predictive soil-mapping techniques to create maps of soil texture at higher fidelity and a fraction of the cost than would be required using traditional methods.

Counting Beans: Agrobiodiversity, Indigeneity, and Agrarian Reform

Abstract: In-field conservation of locally domesticated crop varieties ameliorates agrobiodiversity losses, but the interaction among nationally regulated socioeconomic factors at the local scale tends to discourage this. Analyses of household surveys conducted in Ecuador demonstrate that state and nongovernmental institutions interact to discourage cultivation of locally domesticated varieties of beans (Phaseolus spp.). Land privatization, agricultural extension, and credit programs favor market production of introduced modern bean varieties, and locally domesticated varieties are noted for favorable nutrition, culinary, and agroecological qualities. Resolving disconnections between the market and social values for landrace beans may provide agrobiodiversity conservation opportunities.

Interannual Variability in Pollen Dispersal and Deposition on the Tropical Quelccaya Ice Cap

Abstract: Pollen collected from snow samples on the Quelccaya Ice Cap in 2000 and 2001 reveals significant interannual variability in pollen assemblage, concentration, and provenance. Samples from 2000, a La Nina year, contain high pollen concentrations and resemble samples from the Andean forests (Yungas) to the east. Samples from 2001, an El Nino year, contain fewer pollen and resemble those from the Altiplano. We suggest that varying wind patterns under different El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions may affect the processes of pollen transport over the Altiplano and on the ice cap, although confounding variables such as flowering phenology and sublimation should also be considered *The authors would like to thank Lonnie G. Thompson, Keith R. Mountain, and Jason K. Blackburn for their help in the field, as well as Jocelyne C. Bourgeois and Robert V. Rohli for useful discussion. A special thanks to Mary Lee Eggart for cartographic assistance. This research was jointly supported by the Geography ...

Comparative Accuracy in Four Civil War Maps of the Shenandoah Valley: A GIS Analysis*

Abstract: This study compares the accuracy of four maps available to Union and Confederate officers during the 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign of the American Civil War. It examines historical maps of the Valley of Virginia by the following cartographers: James W. Abert, Hermann Boye and Lewis von Buchholtz, Jedediah Hotchkiss, and Franz Kappner. Both simple and three-tiered sinuosity measures are derived for reference points along study map representations of the Shenandoah river system. These data are then statistically compared to corresponding sinuosity data from USGS topographic quadrangles to identify the relative accuracies of the historical maps. This article offers evidence to refute the common historical assumption that Hotchkiss provided Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson with terrain intelligence that was far superior to that available to his Union opponents. Evidence indicates that maps by Union cartographers as well as the prewar Boye-Buchholtz map were at least as accurate, or superior to,...

Entropy Analysis of Multiple Scale Causality and Qualitative Causal Shifts in Spatial Systems

Abstract: Spatial systems are typically characterized by multiple controlling factors and processes operating at different spatial and temporal scales (multiple scale causality [MSC]). An entropy decomposition-based approach to MSC is presented here in two contexts. First, given maps or distributions of an observed phenomenon at two or more scales, the contribution at more local or global (relative to the primary scale of observation) controls to the observed entropy can be estimated. Second, a theoretical treatment of the entropy decomposition equations shows that as the range of scale is increased by broadening or narrowing resolutions or by incorporating more controls, the influence of larger or smaller-scale influences not only changes, but may change qualitatively, e.g., in terms of having positive (entropy-increasing) or negative (information-increasing) effects. Such qualitative causal shifts have implications for efforts to use any single causal explanation across the molecular to planetary spatial...

The Geography of Religious Affiliation in Scotland

Abstract: Academic study of the relationships between geography and religion constitutes a long-established subfield of cultural geography. The tradition is particularly strong in the United States where the seminal work of the Berkeley School stimulated a wealth of research on mapping the religious landscapes of North America. Religion has received far less attention within British human geography, due, in part, to the marginal position of religion within cultural geography and, in particular, to the absence of reliable, comprehensive data on religious affiliation. The present research overcomes these ideological and methodological obstacles to advance knowledge of the geography of religion in the United Kingdom. Employing data from the latest Census of Population, embedded within an established tradition of mapping geographies of religion, the research provides detailed analysis of the geography of religious affiliation in Scotland at the advent of the twenty-first century.