Population Geography

Reasons for Conflict

• How do spatial systems generate conflict?
• 1) Citizens may argue over boundaries;
• 2) Citizens may have low tolerance for different cultures;

• 3) Citizens may fight/compete over scarce resources and
• 4) Citizens and/or politicians may try to gain political advantage

Political Advantage?

• Yes, spatial divisions can be created in order to manipulate an electoral area, usually by altering the boundaries. This is known as gerrymandering. This is done to gain an unfair political advantage in an election.

Reasons for Cooperation

• 1) Natural disasters
• 2) Economic advantages (attracts new businesses)
• 3) Cultural similarities—ethnic backgrounds
• 4) Addressing regional issues like waste management, magnet schools and transportation.

Urban Development

• Urbanization, or the growing of cities, was triggered by industrialization.
• Patterns of urban development occur according to site and situation.

Site and situation

• Site and situation are important geographic concepts when studying the growth of cities.
• Site is the actual location of a city.

• Situation is another name for relative location—the location of a city with respect to other geographic features, regions, resources, and transport routes.

Site

• Harbor Sites: NY City, Alexandria, Egypt; Istanbul Turkey
• Island sites: Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore
• Fall line sites: Richmond, VA
• Confluence sites: Khartoum, Sudan; Pittsburg, PA

• Hilltop sites: Rome, Athens, Jerusalem
• Oasis Sites: Damascus, Syria
• Sites where rivers narrow: London, Quebec City

Situation

• Istanbul—Command of straits and land bridge to Europe
• Mecca, Saudi Arabia; Varanasi (Benares), India—Focal point of pilgrimage
• Samarkand, Uzbekistan; Xi’an, China; Timbuktu, Mali; Singapore—Cities that grew up around trade routes

• Capetown, S.Africa—Supply station for ships
• Omaha, Nebraska; Sacramento, California—Cities that grew up along the U.S. Transcontinental railroad
• Novosibirsk,Vladivostok-Cities that grew up along the Trans-Siberian Railroad