Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
1
In pursuit of useful knowledge: the principles
and practice of applied geography
Michael Pacione
perspective that, in part, reflects the situation in
North America, where many applied geographers
employ their skills beyond the walls of academia.
The extramural focus in applied geographical
work is also central to Hart's (1989: p. 15)
definition, which saw applied geography as 'the
synthesis of existing geographic knowledge and
principles to serve the specific needs of a particular
client, usually a business or a government agency'.
The suggestion of uncritical 'service to a specific
client, whether business or public agency' (p. 17)
implicit in this definition ignores the volume of
critical analysis undertaken by academic applied
geographers.
In a more broadly based statement, Sant (1982:
p. 1) viewed applied geography as the use of
geographic knowledge as an aid to reaching
decisions over use of the world's resources. More
specifically, Frazier (1982: p. 17) considered that
applied geography 'deals with the normative
question, the way things should be, a bold but
necessary position in dealing with real world
problem resolution. In the process, the geographer
combines the world of opinion with the world of
decision.' This latter perspective is closer to the
definition of applied geography favoured here.
In this topic, we employ a definition of applied
geography that reflects the central importance of
normative goals and that acknowledges the
involvement of both academic and non-academic
applied geographers in pursuit of these goals.
Accordingly, applied geography may be defined as
THE DEFINITION OF APPLIED
GEOGRAPHY
An indication of the nature and content of applied
geography may be gained by examining a
selection of available definitions of the approach.
One of the earliest statements on applied
geography was offered by A.J.Herbertson in 1899
in a lecture to the Council of the Manchester
Geographical Society. In this he defined applied
geography as 'a special way of looking at
geography, a limitation and a specialisation of the
study of it from one point of view. For the business
man this point of view is an economic one, for
the medical man a climatic and demographic one,
for the missionary an ethic and ethical one' (p. 1).
While the second part of this definition presents a
somewhat restricted view of the context of
applied geography even at the end of the
nineteenth century, the opening sentence has
proved to be a prescient statement that, as we shall
see, remains relevant today.
More recent attempts to define applied
geography are also instructive as far as they reflect
a particular view of the subject. In reviewing
several definitions of applied geography, Hornbeck
(1989: p. 15) identified two common factors in
that applied geography 'takes place outside the
university, and it deals with real world problems'.
While the latter observation is apposite, the
exclusion of academic research in applied
geography reveals an excessively narrow
