EDWARD ULLMAN (1912-1976)

SUGGESTED THE FOLLOWING

TRIAD OF PRINCIPLES TO EXPLAIN
SI:

Peter P. Reid | Ms. Quezeda | Second Year

6.DIRECTION
• orientation (NEWS), up, down, left, right, near far, middle

7.SIZE AND SCALE

when we say large or small, we speak both of the nature of the place and of
other generalizations that can be made out of it. Refers to the degree of
generalization represented
a. level of analysis (global, international, regional);

b. map scale (relationship of size of an area on a map and its

actual size in reality, large, medium, small)

8.DISTRIBUTION – arrangement of phenomena on earth,

describes how things are arranged on earth; 2 Concepts:
a. PATTERN - gives basis for observation, geometric arrangement in
space (linear, radial, ring, random)
b.DENSITY – no. of observation per unit area e.g. pop density
9.SPATIAL DIFFUSION
• the process of dispersion or spread of new ideas, products, objects across
time and space. It is affected by distance, pop density, transport system,
ICT.
• Importance: helps to reconstruct the dispersal of cultural and technological
ideas in the past. To predict
SWEDISH GEOGRAPHER TORSTEN
HAGERSTRAND (1952, THE PROPAGATION
OF DIFFUSION WAVES) IDENTIFIED 2
TYPES:
1. EXPANSION DIFFUSION

• a phenomena spread because of the proximity of the carrier, or agents

of change who are fixed in their location. Originating from a source
affecting a larger area or population.
Contagious – diffusion thru direct contact (language), virtually
every village, town and community is affected by expansion diffusion
shaped by local proximity.
2. RELOCATION

• a phenomena is carried to a distant location and is diffused from there; a

phenomenon is diffused as an initial carrier or group of carriers, and spreads
from there, results from movement of people.
3. Hierarchical
• phenomena is diffused from one location to another without necessarily
spreading to places in between; diffusion from long distance source;
downward filtering from larger to smaller scale
10.PLACE
• usually regarded as small-scale areas; Any portion of the earth’s surface
can be regarded as a place; Every place is unique, each place has its
identifying features that marks its uniqueness.
• The physical & human characteristics of a location

•
UNIQUENESS OF PLACES
• Places are dynamic with changing properties & fluid boundaries that are the
product of the interplay of a wide variety of environmental & human factors.
• Places provide settings for people’s daily lives
• Places exert a strong influence on people’s well-being, their opportunities &
their lifestyle choices.
• Places contribute to people’s collective memory & become powerful
emotional & cultural symbols.
• Places are sites of innovation & change, of resistance & conflict.
INTERDEPENDENCE OF PLACES
• Most places are interdependent, each filling specialized roles in complex
and ever-changing geographies.
• Individual places are tied to wider processes of change that are reflected in
broader geographical patterns.
INTERDEPENDENCE OF GEOGRAPHIC SCALES
• Global & Local Scales. Global events affect local people in almost all
areas of the world (globalization)
• Local events could also have global impacts (gulf war, EDSA Revolution
I)
INTERDEPENDENCE AS A 2-WAY PROCESS
• Places are not just distinctive outcomes of geographical processes, they
are part of the processes themselves. There is a continuous 2-way
process in which people create & modify places while at the same time
being influenced by the settings in which they live and work.
•
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY

• Core of Geography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

• Evaluates the differences among places, based on recognizing the
uniqueness of some places and features that several places may have in
common.
• It provides an informed approach to assessing the roles of global processes
and their impacts on people in different places.
•
11.REALMS
• Largest unit into which the inhabited world can be divided.
• Result of interaction of human societies and natural environment – a
functional interaction revealed by transport routes, farms, & other features
on the landscape.
12 WORLD REALMS

1. Europe 7. Subsaharan Africa

2. Russia 8. South Asia
3. North America 9. East Asia
4. Middle America 10. South-East Asia
5. South America 11. Australia
6. North Africa/West Asia 12. Pacific
12. REGIONS
• An area on the earth’s surface marked by certain properties of
commonality or functionality.
• Makes studying the earth’s surface manageable by grouping those areas
that are similar and connected & looking for patterns of organization
PROPERTIES

• Area/Spatial Extent – not abstractions, they exist & occupy space on the
Earth’s surface.
• Boundaries – not self-evident & must be determined on the basis of criteria
established for that purpose.
• Location
• Hierarchically arranged
• Dynamic
TYPES
• 1. FORMAL – Essential uniformity / homogeneity / sameness, determined
by combination of physical & human geographic features. It is one that is
uniform in terms of specific criteria.
• 2.FUNCTIONAL – Formed by a set of places and their interrelated
activities, that is, interconnections rather than uniformity. It literally
functions as a unit,
• 3.VERNACULAR – this is the local region identified by the region’s own
inhabitants.
PROBLEMS OF THE REGIONAL APPROACH
• Not scientific?
• Regionalizing is subjective and arbitrary
• Defining a region – few have clearly defined boundaries
• Scale – too small or too large
• Globalization – changes the conception of local diversity
GEOGRAPHY’S 5 THEMES:
• Location:
• Where is it? Why is it located there?
• Place:
• What is it like?
• Human-Environment Interaction:
• How do people interact with and change their environment?
• Depend; Adapt; Modify
• Movement:
• How are people and places linked by communication, and the flow of people, ideas, and
goods?
• Region:
• What are their unifying features and how do they form and change over time?
COMMON PARADIGMS
• Environmental Determinism – simple model of nature- society relation
where nature or the environment shapes or limits the society. The physical
environment controls human actions, molds human behaviour and
conditions cultural development.
• Cultural Possibilism – as opposed to determinism, man is the active
component while nature is passive. It holds that man can manipulate nature
for his advantages.
THE END…