Description
Economic geographers study and attempt to explain the spatial configuration of economic activities, including the production of goods and services, their transfer from one economic agent to another and their transformation into utility by consumers. The spatial configuration, which includes both the pattern of activities on the map and the relationships between activities occurring in different places, is the outcome of a vast number of distinct but interrelated decisions made by firms, households, governments and a variety of other private and public institutions. The goal of this book is to provide the student with a rigorous introduction to a diverse but logically consistent set of analytical models of the spatial decisions and interactions that drive the evolution of the economic landscape.
It begins by explaining fundamental concepts that are critical to all topics in economic geography: the friction of distance, agglomeration, spatial interaction, market mechanisms, natural resources and production technologies. Sections follow to cover major areas of inquiry including multiregional economies, location theory, markets for space and systems of cities. The final section synthesizes and builds on these topics to address two trends that provide particular challenges to economic geographers today: globalization and the emergence of the knowledge economy.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Fundamental Concepts 1. Introduction 2. The Friction of Distance 3. Agglomeration 4. Spatial Interaction 5. Networks 6. Resources and the Environment 7. Markets Part 2: The Multiregional Economy 8. Specialization and Trade 1 9. Specialization and Trade 2 10. Movements of Capital and Labor 11. Growth 12. Regional Policy Part 3: Location Theory 13. Location on a Plane 14. Location on Networks 15. Planning Models 16. Strategic Location 17. Lock-in and Path Dependence Part 4: Markets for Space 18. Agricultural Land Use 19. Urban Land Use 20. Land Development and Real Estate Markets Part 5: Systems of Cities 21. Genesis and Functions of Cities 22. Urban Hierarchy 23. Spatial Urban Hierarchy 24. The Evolution of Urban Systems
