HUMAN AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

An Overview of Geography
The science of geography is likely the oldest of all sciences. Geography is the answer to the question
that the earliest humans asked, “What’s over there?” Exploration and the discovery of new places,
new cultures, and new ideas have always been basic components of geography.

Thus, geography is often called the “mother of all sciences” as studying other people and other paces
led to other scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, geology, mathematics, astronomy,
chemistry, among others.

Today, geography is commonly divided into two major branches – 1] cultural geography (also called
human geography) and 2] physical geography.

Cultural geography is the branch of geography dealing with human culture and its impact on the earth.
Cultural geographers study languages, religion, foods, building style, urban areas, agriculture,
transportation systems, politics, economies, population and demographics, and more.

Physical geography is the branch of geography dealing with the natural features of the earth, the home
of humans. Physical geography looks at the water, air, animals, and land of the planet earth (i.e.
everything that is part of the four spheres – the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere).
Physical geography is closely related to geography’s sister science – geology – but physical
geography focuses more on the landscapes at the surface of the earth and not what is inside our planet.

Other key areas of geography include regional geography (which involves the in-depth study and
knowledge of a particular region and its cultural as well as its physical characteristics) and geographic
technologies like GIS (geographic information systems) and GPS (global positioning system).

An important system for dividing the subject of geography is known as the Four Traditions of
Geography.

History of Geography
The history of geography as a scientific discipline can be traced back to the Greek scholar
Eratosthenes. It was further developed in the modern era by Alexander von Humboldt and from there;
you can trace the history of geography in the United States.

Since the beginning of humankind, the study of geography has captured the imagination of the people.
In ancient times, geography books extolled tales of distant lands and dreamed of treasures. The
ancient Greeks created the word “geography” from the roots “ge” for earth and “grapho” for “to
write”. These people experienced many adventures and needed a way to explain and communicate the
differences between various lands. Today, researchers in the field of geography still focus on people
and cultures (cultural geography), and the planet earth (physical geography).

The features of the earth are the domain of physical geographers and their work includes research
about climates, the formation of landforms, and plant and animal distribution. Working in closely
related areas, the research of physical geographers and geologists often overlaps.

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Religion, languages, and cities are a few of the specialties of cultural (also known as human)
geographers. Their research into the intricacies of human existence is fundamental to our
understanding of cultures. Cultural geographers want to know why various groups practice certain
rituals, speak in different dialects, or organize their cities in a particular way.

Geographers plan new communities, decide where new highways should be placed, and establish
evacuation plans. Computerized mapping and data analysis is known as Geographic Information
System (GIS), a new frontier in geography. Spatial data is gathered on a variety of subjects and input
onto a computer. GIS users can create an infinite number of maps by requesting portions of the data to
plot.

There’s always something new to research in geography: new nation-states are created, natural
disasters strike populated areas, the world’s climate changes, and the Internet brings millions of
people closer together. Knowing where countries and oceans are on a map is important but geography
is much more than the answers to trivia questions. Having the ability to geographically analyze allows
us to understand the world in which we live.

Economic Geography
Economic geographers examine the distribution of production and distribution of goods, the
distribution of wealth, and the spatial structure of economic conditions.

Population Geography
Population geography is often equated with demography but population geography is more than just
patters of birth, death, and marriage. Population geographers are concerned with the distribution,
migration, and growth of population in geographic areas.

Population geography is a branch of human geography that is focused on the scientific study of
people, their spatial distributions and density. To study these factors, population geographers examine
the increase and decrease in population, people’s movements over time, general settlement patterns
and other subjects such as occupation and how people form the geographic character of a place.
Population geography is closely related to demography (the study of population statistics and trends).

Population geography is a large branch of geography that contains several different topics related to
the world’s population. The first of these is population distribution, which is described as the study of
where people live. World population is uneven as some places are considered rural and are sparsely
populated, while others are more urban and are densely populated. Population geographers interested
in population distribution often study past distributions of people to understand how and why specific
areas have grown into large urban centers today. Usually, sparsely populated areas are harsh places to
live such as Canada’s northern territories, while densely populated areas like Europe or the coastal
United States are ore hospitable.

Closely related to population distribution is population density – another topic in population

geography. Population density studies the average number of people in an area by dividing the
number of people present by total area. Usually these numbers are given as persons per square
kilometer or mile.

There are several factors which affect population density and these are often subjects of population
geographers’ study as well. Such factors can relate to the physical environment like climate and
topography or be related to the social, economic and political environments of an area. For example,
areas with harsh climates like California’s Death Valley region are sparsely populated. By contrast,

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Tokyo and Singapore are densely populated because of their mild climates and their economic, social
and political development.
Overall population growth and change is another area of importance for population geographers. This
is because the world’s population has grown dramatically over the last two centuries. To study this
overall subject, population growth is looked at via natural increase. This studies an area’s birth rates
and death rates. The birth rate is the number of babies born per 1000 individuals in the population
every year. The death rate is the number of deaths per 1000 people every year.

The historic natural increase rate of population used to be near zero, meaning that births roughly
equaled deaths. Today however, an increase in life expectancy due to better health care and standards
of living has lowered the overall death rate. In developed nations, the birth rate has declined, but it is
still high in developing nations. As a result, the world’s population has grown exponentially.

In addition to natural increase, population change also considers net migration for an area. This is the
difference between in-migration and out-migration. An area’s overall growth rate or change in
population is the sum of natural increase and net migration.

An essential component to studying world growth rates and population change is the demographic
transition model – a significant tool in population geography. This model looks at how population
changes as a country develops in four stages. The first stage is when birth rates and death rates are
high so there is little natural increase and a relatively small population. The second stage features high
birth rates and low death rates so there is high growth in the population (this is normally where least
developed countries fall). The third stage has a decreasing birth rate and a decreasing death rate, again
resulting in slowed population growth. Finally, the fourth stage has low birth and death rates with low
natural increase.

Graphing Population
In addition to studying the specific numbers of people in places throughout the world, population
geography often uses population pyramids to visually depict the population of specific places. These
show the numbers of men and women with different age groups within the population. Developing
nations have pyramids with wide bases and narrow tops, indicating high birth rates and death rates.
For example, Ghana’s population pyramid would be this shape.

Developed nations usually have an equal distribution of people throughout the different age groups,
indicating slowed population growth. Some however, show negative population growth when the
number of children are equal or slightly lower than older adults. Japan’s population pyramid for
example, shows slowed population growth.

Technologies and Data Sources

Population geography is one of the most data-rich fields in the discipline. This is because most nations
conduct comprehensive national censuses around every ten years. These contain such information as
housing, economic status, gender, age and education. In the United States for example, a census is
taken every ten years as mandated by the Constitution. The data is maintained by the U.S. Census
Bureau.

In addition to census data, population data is also available through government documents like birth
and death certificates. Governments, universities and private organizations also work to conduct
different surveys and studies to gather data about population specifics and behavior that could be
related to topics in population geography.

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Agricultural and Rural Geography
Geographers in this branch study agriculture and rural settlement, the distribution of agriculture and
the geographic movement and access to agricultural products, and land use in rural areas.

Transportation Geography
Transportation geographers research transportation networks (both private and public) and the use of
those networks for moving people and goods.

Transportation geography is a branch of geography concerned with the movement of goods, people,
and information as well as the constraints and spatial attributes of an object’s movement between
places. To better understand the movement of goods and people, transportation geographers often
study the different modes of transportation such as road, rail, air and boat and their links and
relationships to the urban infrastructure and constraints of the physical environment.

In addition to studying the types of technology related to transportation, there are three central fields
relating to transportation to know.

The first of these are transportation nodes. Transportation nodes are the specific links between
different lines of transportation and they serve as distribution points or end points for shipment within
a network.

The second concept studied is the transportation network itself. The transportation network is the
spatial structure and the organization of transportation infrastructure such as roads and train or airport
terminals.

The final concept transportation geographers study is demand. Demand studies the public demand for
specific types of transportation modes and the technologies and organization needed to support them.

Transportation and Geography

Historically, geography has been a significant theme in transportation because transportation aids in
movement from place to place and to do that most efficiently, some geographic knowledge of the area
where the movement is to occur is necessary. In the early 19th century, for example, emerging railway
and maritime shipping aimed to expand coverage and create new markets. In order to do that, some
knowledge about the new market was needed.

In the 20th century, the main goal of transportation shifted from expanding coverage to increasing the
capacity and efficiency of existing transportation networks. Again, geographic knowledge was needed
to determine the actual transit needs of an area. Finally in the 21 st century, transportation has turned
global and geographic knowledge of world market is needed to make it most efficient.

Although transportation and geography have been tied together for centuries, transportation
geography did not emerge as a discipline until the late 20 th century when the growing number of
people and goods moving justified the need for a specialized field within geography. In the 1960s,

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early transportation geography was mainly concerned with quantitative methods and interactions
between transportation networks to minimize transit costs.

In the 1970s, increasing globalization resulted in the need for more transportation networks which
reduced the centrality of transportation. As a result it became more difficult to study and the discipline
declined during that decade and into the 1980s. In the 1990s though, transportation geography again
emerged because issues of efficient mobility, production and distribution were determined to be
connected within geographic areas. Today, transportation is recognized as a complex system with
relationships between various elements. These elements are broken into different fields which include
nodes, networks and transportation demand.

There are also three geographical considerations in transportation geography today. The first of these
is location. Location considers the physical characteristics, origin, destination and distance and ability
of movement between places. The second consideration is complementarily, which considers the
relationship between the supply of goods and demand for the goods. Finally, scale is the third
consideration in transportation geography. Scale considers the distance a good or person travels. This
can range from local to regional or global.

Urban Geography
The branch of urban geography investigates the location, structure, development, and growth of cities
– from tiny village to huge megalopolis.

Physical Geography
Physical geography is another major branch of geography. It is concerned with the natural features on
or near the surface of the earth.

Water Resources
Geographers working in the water resources branch of geography look at the distribution and use of
water across the planet within the hydrologic cycle and of human-developed systems for water
storage, distribution and use.

Climate
Climate geographers investigate the distribution of long-term weather patterns and activities of the
earth’s atmosphere.

Global Change
Geographers researching global change explore the long term changes occurring to the planet earth
based on human impacts on the environment.

Geomorphology
Geomorphologists study the landforms of the planet, from their development to their disappearance
through erosion and other processes.

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Hazards Geography
As with many branches of geography, hazards combines work in physical and human geography.
Hazard geographers research extreme events known as hazards or disaster and explore the human
interaction and response to these unusual natural or technological events.
Mountain Geography
Mountain geographers look at the development of mountain systems and at the humans who live in
higher altitudes and their adaptations to these environments.

Cryosphere Geography
Cryosphere geography explores the ice of the earth, especially glaciers and ice sheets. Geographers
look at the past distribution of ice on the planet and ice-cause features from glaciers and ice sheets.

Arid Regions
Geographers studying arid regions examine the deserts and dry surfaces of the planet. They explore
how humans, animals and plants make their home in dry or arid regions and the use of resources in
these regions.

Coastal and Marine Geography

Within coastal and marine geography, there are geographers researching the coastal environments of
the planet and how humans, coastal life, and coastal physical features interact.

Soils Geography
Soil geographers study the upper layer of the lithosphere, the soil, of the earth and its categorization
and patterns of distribution.

Human geography is one of the two major branches of geography (versus physical geography) and is
often called cultural geography. Human geography is the study of the many cultural aspects found
throughout the world and how they relate to the spaces and places where they originate and then travel
as people continually move across various areas.

Some of the main cultural phenomena studied
different economic and governmental structures,
how and / or why people function as they do in
becoming increasingly important to the field of
aspects of culture to easily travel across the globe.
in human geography include language, religion,
art, music, and other cultural aspects that explain
the areas in which they live. Globalization is also
human geography as it is allowing these specific

Cultural landscapes are also important because they link culture to the physical environments in
which people live. This is vital because it can either limit or nurture the development of various
aspects of culture. For instance, people living in a rural area are often more culturally tied to the
natural environment around them than those living in a large metropolitan area. This is generally the
focus of the “Man-Land Tradition” in the Four Traditions of geography and studies human impact on
nature, the impact of nature on humans, and people’s perception of the environment.

History of Human Geography

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Human geography developed out of the University of California, Berkeley and was led by Carl Sauer.
He used landscapes as the defining unit of geographic study and said that cultures develop because of
the landscape but also help to develop the landscape as well. In addition, his work and the cultural
geography of today is highly qualitative rather than quantitative – a main tenant of physical
geography.
Cultural geography is one of the two major branches of geography (versus physical geography) and is
often called human geography. Cultural geography is the study of the many cultural aspects found
throughout the world and how they relate to the spaces and places where they originate and then travel
as people continually move across various areas.

Some of the main cultural phenomena studied in cultural geography include language, religion,
different economic and governmental structures, art, music, and other cultural aspects that explain
how and / or why people function as they do in the areas in which they live. Globalization is also
becoming increasingly important to this field as it is allowing these specific aspects of culture to
easily travel across the globe.

Cultural landscapes are also important because they link culture to the physical environments in
which people live. This is vital because it can either limit or nurture the development of various
aspects of culture. For instance, people living in a rural area are often more culturally tied to the
natural environment around them than those living in a large metropolitan area. This is generally the
focus of the “Man-Land Tradition” in the Four Traditions of geography and studies human impact on
nature, the impact of nature on humans, and people’s perception of the environment.

Cultural geography developed out of the University of California, Berkeley and was led by Carl
Sauer. He used landscapes as the defining unit of geographic study and said that cultures develop
because of the landscape but also help to develop the landscape as well. In addition, his work and the
cultural geography of today is highly qualitative rather than quantitative – a main tenant of physical
geography.

Today, cultural geography is still practiced and more specialized fields within it such as feminist
geography, children’s geography, tourism studies, and urban geography, the geography of sexuality
and space, and political geography have developed to further aid in the study of cultural practices and
human activities as they relate spatially to the world.

Geography is the study of earth as the home of people.

The famous quote by geographer Yi-Fu Tuan summarizes the branch of geography known as physical
geography.

The discipline of geography is divided into two major branches: 1] physical geography and 2] cultural
or human geography. Physical geography encompasses the geographic tradition known as the Earth
Sciences Tradition. Physical geographers look at the landscapes, surface processes, and climate of the
earth – all of the activity found in the four spheres (the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and
lithosphere) of our planet.

Physical geography consists of many diverse elements. These include: the study of the earth’s
interaction with the sun, seasons, the composition of the atmosphere, atmospheric pressure and wind,
storms and climatic disturbances, climate zones, microclimates, hydrologic cycle, soils, rivers and
streams, flora and fauna, weathering, erosion, natural hazards, deserts, glaciers and ice sheets, coastal
terrain, ecosystems, and so very much more.

Knowing about the physical geography of the planet is important for every serious student of the
planet because the natural processes of the earth (which is what the study of physical geography
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encompasses) affect the distribution of resources, the conditions of human settlement, and have
resulted in a plethora of varied impacts to human populations throughout the millennia. Since the
earth is the only home to humans, by studying our planet, we humans and residents of the planet earth
can be better informed to help take care of our only home.

The area near the surface of the earth can be divided up into four inter-connected “geo-spheres:” the
lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere. Scientists can classify life and material on or
near the surface of the earth to be in any of these four spheres.

The names of the four spheres are derived from the Greek words for stone (litho), air (atmo), water
(hydro), and life (bio).

Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the solid, rocky crust covering entire planet. This crust is inorganic and is
composed of minerals. It covers the entire surface of the earth from the top of Mount Everest to the
bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is composed of all of the water on or near the earth. This includes the oceans, rivers,
lakes, and even the moisture in the air. Ninety-seven percent of the earth’s water is in the oceans. The
remaining three percent is fresh water; three quarters of the fresh water is solid and exists in ice
sheets.

Biosphere
The biosphere is composed of all living organisms. Plants, animals and one-celled organisms are all
part of the biosphere. Most of the planet’s life is found from three meters below the ground to thirty
meters above it and in the top 200 meters of the oceans and seas.

Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the body of air which surrounds our planet. Most of our atmosphere is located
close to the earth’s surface where it is most dense. The air of our planet is 79% nitrogen and just under
21% oxygen; the small amount remaining is composed of carbon dioxide and other gases.

All four spheres can be and often are present in a single location. For example, a piece of soil will of
course have mineral material from the lithosphere. Additionally, there will be elements of the
hydrosphere present as moisture within the soil, the biosphere as insects and plants, and even the
atmosphere as pockets of air between soil pieces.

The Four Traditions of Geography

The Spatial, Area Studies, Man-Land, and Earth Science Traditions
The four traditions of geography were originally espoused by geographer William D. Pattison at the
opening session of the annual convention of the National Council for Geographic Education,

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Columbus, Ohio, November 29, 1963. his four traditions attempted to define the discipline: 1] spatial
tradition, 2] area studies tradition, 3] man-land tradition, and 4] earth science tradition. Below are the
traditions along with some core concepts of each.

Spatial Tradition (also called Locational Tradition)

 Mapping
 Spatial analysis
 Boundaries and densities
 Movement and transportation
 Quantitative techniques and tools, such as computerized mapping and Geographic
Information Systems
 Central Place Theory
 Aerial distribution
 Spatial pattersns

Area Studies Tradition (also called Regional Tradition)

 Description of regions or areas

 World regional geography
 International trends and relationships
 How regions are different from one other
 The chorographic tradition (regions)

Man-Land Tradition (also called Human-Environmental, Human-Land, or Culture-

Environment Tradition)

 Human impact on nature

 Impact of nature on humans
 Nature hazards
 Perception of environment
 Environmentalism
 Cultural, political, and population geography

Earth Science Tradition

 Physical geography
 The lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere
 Earth-sun interaction
 Offshoots are geology, mineralogy, paleontology, glaciology, geomorphology, and
meteorology
 The study of the earth as the home to humans

The Five Themes of Geography

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Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement and Region
 The five themes of geography were created in 1984 by the National Council for Geographic
Education and the Association of American Geographers to facilitate and organize the
teaching of geography in the K-12 classroom. While they have been supplanted by the
National Geography Standards, they provide an effective organization of the teaching of
geography.
1. Location
 Most geographic study begins with learning the location of places. Location can be
absolute or relative.
 Absolute location provides a definite reference to locate a place. The reference can be
latitude and longitude, a street address, or even the Township and Range system.
 Relative location describes a place with respect to its environment and its connection to
other places.

2. Place
 Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location
 Physical characteristics include a description such things as the mountains, rivers,
beaches, topography, and animal and plant life of a place.
 Human characteristics include the human-designed cultural features of a place, from land
use and architecture to forms of livelihood and religion to food and folk ways to
transportation and communication networks.

3. Human-Environment Interaction
 This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the environment. Humans shape
the landscape through their interaction with the land; this has both positive and negative
effects on the environment.

4. Movement
 Humans move, a lot! In addition, ideas, fads, goods, resources, and communication all
travel distances. This theme studies movement and migration across the planet.

5. Region
 Region divides the world into manageable units for geographic study. Regions have some
sort of characteristic that unifies the area. Regions can be formal, functional, or
vernacular.
 Formal regions are those that are designated by official boundaries, such as cities, states,
counties and countries. For the most part, they are clearly indicated and publicly known.
 Functional regions are defined by their connections. For example, the circulation area for
a major city area is the functional region of that paper.
 Vernacular regions are perceived regions, such as “The South”, “The Midwest”, or the
“Middle East”; they have no formal boundaries but are understood in our mental maps of
the world.

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PHYSICAL AND HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

1. The Study of Geography is made to: Understand Civilization – where we have been and
where we are going and differentiate Geography and History. The former refers where things
happen (complimentary) while the latter speaks of time and events.

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 2. Physical Geography is concerned primarily with the relationship between humans and the
physical environment. It is further classified as follows:

a. Relationship between climate and human behavior (bioclimate)

b. Relationship between rock types and the shape of the surface of the earth and what
that means fro the human use of the earth (geomorphology)
c. Forms of Human Settlements

3. Human Geography interprets human behavior and the patterns they produce on the land. It is
organized into these different Disciplines:

 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
o ARTS AND HUMANITIES – History, Art, English, Foreign Languages, Music,
Religion and Theater

 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
o PHYSICAL SCIENCES – Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Engineering Sciences,
Meteorology and Astronomy

 MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY (BIOGEOGRAPHY)

o BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES – Biology, Botany, Zoology, Agronomy and Medicine

 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
o SOCIAL SCIENCES – Economics, Business Sciences, Sociology, Psychology,
Political Science and Law

 QUANTITATIVE GEOGRAPHY
o MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES – Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics

(Note: REAL ESTATE is a special study of both the Physical and Human Geography of Humans and
the Physical Environment)

4. Regional Studies which include the following: Functional – ex. Political and Administrative
Divisions like provinces, cities and municipalities; Multifactor – ex. Region ethnic groups,
population, etc; Nodal – ex. Newspaper distribution; Single Factor – ex. Sugarcane areas.

5. Distance Studies and Measurements such as Absolute Distance – ex. 22 miles, 100
kilometers; Economic distance – ex. Food granary areas of Central Luzon, Mindoro and
Central Plains of Mindanao; Time and Direction affects distance – ex. Mountainous areas
with difficulty of accessibility requires more travel time; Psychological distance – ex. Home
to workplace travel and vice versa.

6. Spatial Distribution – which includes Pattern, Density and Dispersion of Population.

7. Pattern of Rural Supplements and Settlements – which may have these characteristics:
Regular Hexagonal, Clustered, Random, Linear

8. Production Qualities

a. Primary – growing products, taxing resources directly from the earth.

b. Secondary – production which includes economic activities involved in converting
products from the primary production phase into intermediary or finished goods,
usually through some type of manufacturing.

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 c. Tertiary – no material is produced; involves control, movement, sales and use of the
goods produced during the primary and secondary stages; service activities,
government, finance (banking, real estate, insurance), retail, professions.
d. Quaternary – information and decision – making.

9. Manufacturing Processes

a. Five Essential features define manufacturing

i. The process must change the form of goods
ii. The process must be accomplished through division of labor
iii. The operations must be carried on in factories not in homes or fields. Thus,
farming, handicrafts, and construction are excluded
iv. The factory must turn out a uniform product
v. Machinery driven by some form of power must be used in the process

b. Four Essential elements for a factory to operate

i. Raw materials
ii. Labor supply
iii. Energy supply
iv. Market

c. Agglomeration – clustering together of similar types of factories

10. Principles of Retail Location

a. The threshold (minimum number of persons – demand) to sustain a particular good or

service
b. Range – of goods and services is a function of the distance people will travel to
purchase them

11. Social Space

a. Personal Space – immediate environment of individual

b. Familial Space – home relationship
c. Neighborhood Space – geography of day-to-day movement
d. Economic Space – spatial patterns of interaction with workplaces
e. Urban-regional Space – includes area within which a person might travel further, but
less frequently
f. Proxemics – study of distance that defines personal space
g. Sociofugal – separate
h. Sociopetal – together

12. Boundaries

a. Antecedent – defined and delimited before man’s settlement

b. Subsequent – conforming to cultural space, language, religion, etc.
c. Superimposed – forcibly placed upon an existing unified landscape
d. Relict – ceased to function but whose imprints are still evident

13. Urbanization – state of less concentration to more concentration – Push and Pull Effect of
Migration

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*Nesting of Dynamic Growth Factors. The area that is actually “built-up” is much smaller than the
total accessible area (“Transportation Frame”) or the area that provokes the most interest for its
development potential (“Speculative Realm”)

*Central Locations are highly accessible; Peripheral ones are not. Accessibility can be measured by
the Beta Index.

*Beta Index is a measure of connectivity in a network. It is an expression of the ratio links to nodes.

*Accessibility Matrix – a framework for calculating the accessibility of each node in a network.

FLOW LINE – a diagram showing volumes of movement, e.g., of people, goods or information
between places. The width of the flow line is proportional to the amount of
movement, for example to portray commuter flows into an urban center from
surrounding towns and villages.

FRICTION OF DISTANCE
The intensity of human activity tends to decrease as distance from or between nodes
increases. For example, the volume of traffic between pair or cities decreases as they
are located further apart. The amount of investment in agriculture decreases with
increasing distance from the market town. The cost of land decreases with increasing
distance from the city center. The number of telephone calls decreases over
progressively greater distance. The general model for the friction of distance is:

F = A1 / D2
Where : F = volume of movement
D = distance
A = constant

The factors responsible for the friction of distance are cost and time; both decrease
with distance and act as a deterrent to movement. But improvements, e.g., transport
technology or rising incomes are reduce the friction of distance; the relative distance
between places can therefore be decreased.

CONURBATION – a continuous “built-up” urban area, formed by the merging of several formerly
separate towns and cities

INDUSTRIALIZATION PHASE – a Core Region emerges, based on a growing industrial urban

center – the rest of the nation remains an undeveloped periphery, supplying labor, food and other
resources to the core.

FULLY DEVELOPED PHASE – Regional Urban Centers develop to spread the benefits of economic
and social progress to the former peripheries. This is a highly simplified version of a complex four
stage model of regional development.

CORE – In physical geography, the core is the innermost zone of the earth, probably solid at the
center and at very high temperature, composed of iron and nickel. In human geography, the term core
refers to a central place of central region, usually the center of economic and political activity in a
nation. John Friedman’s core/periphery model identifies relationships between growing and stagnant
regions during the process of economic development.

DENSITY – Defined as the overall frequency of occurrences of a phenomenon within the area under
study, relative to the size of the area.

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PATTERN – The geometric arrangement without regard to the size of the study area.

DISPERSION – The extent of the spread of the feature relative to the size of the study area.

MULTIPLE NUCLEI MODEL (of Harris and Ullman, 1945)

- A model of urban structure stating that most large cities develop around a number of
separate centers or nuclei, rather than around a single center. Different land users are therefore
situated around the city creating a cellular structure. The pattern of these cells or nuclei will reflect the
unique factors of the site and/or history of any particular city.

CRESAR for Real Estate Brokers

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