Cultural Geography
Chapter 3: Spatial Interaction and
Spatial Behavior
Spatial interaction: the movement of goods, people, and ideas within and between
areas. Resources and human efforts are
not uniformly distributed.
Interaction flows are shaped
by flow-determining factors:
Complementarity: conditions of supply at one point and effective
demand elsewhere. (Core/periphery
relationships, etc.)
Transferability: statement of the cost of movement relative to the
value gained from it- expression of commodity mobility. Inter-related conditions:
1. Characteristics/value of product
2. Movement distance (time, money, other factors)
3. Ability of commodity to bear cost of movement
Intervening
Flow-determining factors (help structure the probability of all forms of
spatial interaction)
Measuring Interaction
Distance Decay: decline of an activity or function with increasing distance from point
of origin (assures the greatest intensity of interaction over short distances.)
Influenced by:
Friction of distance: distance has a retarding effect on interaction due
to increasing penalties in time and cost
Gravity Model: (a model of spatial interaction) The attractive
force existing between areas is related to the force of gravity. Distance is often calculated as travel time
or cost. Suggests that the size of
interacting places as well as the distance separating them is important in
predicting spatial exchanges
Law of Retail Gravitation- explains how large cities have greater drawing
power than smaller ones. See page 70 for
Reilly's equation of the "breaking point" between cities.
Homework Alert (see assignment 2): Solve the breaking point for 2
cities (30 miles apart) where P1 has a population of 100,000 and P2 has a
population of 60,000.
Where you shop, according to
this model depends upon where you are in relationship between the 2
cities. You will be asked to determine
where someone would shop (which city) at a certain distance from a city.
Interaction Potential- since the world is more than just 2 places (we are
usually offered more than 2 opportunities in choice making) all places within a
region act upon each other.
Potential model- tells the relative position of each point in relation to all other
points- maps the intensity of spatial interaction.
Patterns of spatial
interaction, once established, tend to affect the conditions under which future
interactions will occur. Results in:
Movement bias: resulting aggregate regularity of flow
Distance bias- short distance over long.
Direction bias- actual flows are restricted to a few directions
Network bias- the presence or absence of connecting channels
(roads, bus routes, air routes, etc.) strongly affects the likelihood of
spatial interaction
Network- a set of routes and the places they connect
Human Spatial Behavior
Mobility vs.Migration
Mobility- all types of human territorial movement. Types:
Circulation- daily/temporary uses of space (no relocation of
residence)
Migration- Permanently leave a
territory (a place)
Individual Activity Space
Territoriality- emotional detachment and defense of a home ground
Activity Space: Area in which each person operates whose extent differs in accordance
with that person’s age, sex, wealth, employment, or other personal variables.
Daily activities are both space and time consuming.
Space-time Prism: the volume of space and length of time within which activities must be
confined. (Women's prisms tend to be more restrictive than men's.) See figure
3.10 on page 74.
Critical Distance- distance where cost, effort and means strongly influence willingness
to travel- the constraint of distance decay is evident.
Information flows are a form
of spatial interaction- space is different regarding information.
Space-time Convergence- result of technological advance allowing
information, goods and people to be transported at increasingly shorter time
frames (telecommunications is instantaneous)
Space-Cost Convergence- Cost reaches a distance where any further distance
is the same price (cost of letter across town is same as across country, etc.)
Type of Information Flows-
Personal exchanges- person-to-person
Mass communications- source-to-area (formal, structured transmission of
information)- "space filling"
Subdivision- Formal (rules, forms and institutions represented)
and Informal (no imposed institutions)
Personal communication field: informational activity space,
is shaped by personal characteristics and needs. Information gained from
personal communications and mass media helps shape our perceptions of near and
distant places.
Information hierarchies exist based upon regional needs, market size
requirements and technology availability.
Radio has
been the most successful information transmission tool in history
Information and Perception
Flows between points are and
over area are influenced by:
§
Distance decay
§
Explained by
gravity/potential models
§
Determined by
life stage, mobility and socioeconomic characteristics
Mental maps:
summarize a person’s acquired information and perceptions. Near places are
better known and preferred to distant ones.
Direction Bias: Created by barriers to information flow, reflecting greater
information flow in one direction regardless of the distance involved.
Perceptions of favorable climatic and other attractions and considerations of
recognized natural hazards may also influence mental maps and bias.
Perception of Natural Hazards
Low-level hazards don't
create negative space perceptions
High-hazard areas- often posses desirable topographic characteristics (beaches, view,
hillslopes, etc.)
Perception of natural hazard
is a luxury- poor don't have the option to relocate from areas with high levels
of natural hazards.
Migration-
(3% of world population live in a country other than that of birth)
Migration-
permanent relocation of a residential place- contributed to the evolution of
human culture.
Principal Migration Patterns
Intercontinental- historical spread of human activity and
culture. North/South American settlement
Intracontinental/Interregional- reflects a flight from dangerous environmental,
political, economic or political conditions
Rural-to-Urban- increasing as poor farmers move to cities to look
for jobs or escape unrest. Puts pressure on urban resources and
infrastructure- more common in impoverished developing countries than
developed.
Types of Migration
Forced- 12 million Africans brought to Western hemisphere
as slaves
Reluctant- international refugees or government colonization
plans
Voluntary- majority of migration
Motivation:
Poverty- 30% of world population make less than $1/day, Environmental refugees
abandon land that can no longer support them
Controls on Migration
Place perceptions are basic to decisions to migrate. Those decisions
at any of several scales from intercontinental to local are affected by “pull” factors of perceived improvement
in personal condition and by “push
factors” considerations of escape from home area dissatisfactions.
Place Utility: the value placed on potential residential
locations—may determine the decision to migrate and is colored by personal
factors of age, sex, career stage, and so forth. Migration may also be forced
or reluctant rather than voluntary and therefore may be under different control
mechanisms.
Push & Pull Factors- Negative factors (environment, political or
economic) versus attractive opportunity somewhere else.
Step Migration- Movement from rural to urban environment via steps to small town, to
small city, etc.
Chain Migration- established migrant flow where advance group of migrants provides
links to others
Counter Migration- return migration- 25% of migrants return to their place of origin.
Migration field- area from which a place draws migrants
Channelized Migration- tendency for migration to flow between areas linked
economically, historically, culturally, etc.
Incentives
to migrate may be counterbalanced by migration barriers. When
undertaken relocation tends to be affected by migration fields, channelized flows, and
such ordinary controls of spatial interaction as intervening opportunity,
distance decay, the gravity model, and the like. Resistance to or rejection of legal and
illegal in-migrants by destination countries restricts free international
movement.
Important Definitions for
this chapter:
breaking point
chain migration
complementarity
connectivity
critical distance
distance decay
friction of distance
gravity model
law of retail gravitation
network
network bias
pull factor
push factor
space-time prism
spatial interaction
transferability