We live in a global world. The manufacture of a single pencil requires materials from eleven countries. Our cars contain parts that originate from all around the world. Economic geography can help us understand this interdependent world as we enter the twenty-first century. Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution, and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth. It focuses on the location of industries and retail and wholesale businesses, on transportation and trade, and on the changing value of real estate. It includes such topics as transportation, agriculture, industrial location, world trade, and the spatial organization and function of business activity.

CONTENTS: Introduction; Megaregions:Literature Review of the Implications for U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Transportation Planning; Urbanization as a Threat to Biodiversity:Trophic Theory, Economic Geography, and Implications for Conservation Land Acquisition; Economic Geography of Food Distribution in the United States; Geography of the Poor:Case Study of a District in Sarawak, East Malaysia; Economic Inequality Predicts Biodiversity Loss; Linked Migration Systems:Immigration and Internal Labor Flows in the United States; Interrupting the Telos:Locating Subsistence in Contemporary US Forests; Cultural Diversity, Economic Development and Societal Instability; Investing in Our Self Interest:The Economics of Ocean Politics in Oregon; Mapping the Economic Costs and Benefits of Conservation; Clusters in the Romanian Economy; The Rise and Fall of Concern About Urban Sprawl in The United States:An Updated Analysis; U.S.–Canada Wheat Trade:The Intersection of Geography & Economics; Index

This book explains the branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social, and economic aspects of the social sciences. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth, we cannot discuss human geography without also studying the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out. Human geography is methodologically diverse, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including case studies, survey research, statistical analysis, and model building. As explained within this book, a human geographer might be concerned with the geographic patterns of communicable diseases, school performance in rural versus urban school districts, or the rise of innovative technology clusters.

CONTENTS: Introduction; What is a Culture?; Culture:A Geographical Perspective; The Role of Geography in Human Adaptation; Biodiversity, Traditional Medicine and Public Health:Where Do They Meet?; Urban Ecological Stewardship:Understanding the Structure, Function and Network of Community-Based Urban Land Management; Where Heart and Home Reside:Changing Constructions of Place and Identity; Geography of a Hidden Cultural Heritage:Camel Wrestles in Western Anatolia; Urban Transformation in Slum Districts Through Public Space Generation and Cable Transportation at Northeastern Area:Medellin, Colombia; State, Power and Space; An Uneasy Alliance? Tracing the Relationships Between Cultural and Feminist Geographies; A Spatial Evaluation of Socio Demographics Surrounding National Priorities List Sites in Florida Using a Distance-Based Approach; Changes in Farmers' Knowledge of Maize Diversity in Highland Guatemala, 1927/37 and 2004; Oil for Health in Sub-Saharan Africa:Health Systems in a 'Resource Curse' Environment; Glossary; Index