Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
according to specifi c criteria: they tend to be regarded more as
methodological devices, rather than generally distinguishable
parts of the Earth's surface.
What kind of research is involved in modern regional geography?
This complements the emphasis on generalization and
globalization with a consideration of the specifi city of place,
the local effects of global processes, and locally generated
processes. Distance is no longer important for some global social
and economic activities but, at the same time, local forces are
perpetuated and new ones generated by cultural differences. The
particular problems on which regional geography focuses are
often associated with spatial inequalities and uneven development
with important implications for political agendas and government
policy.
Geographical studies of Africa illustrate some of the contemporary
research themes of regional geography in the context of the
developing world. The simple theory that human population
growth leads to environmental degradation and agricultural
decline, for example, has been shown to be an oversimplifi cation.
Many factors of the biophysical and human environment
(the latter including, for example, market access, land tenure,
technological innovation, and politics), interact in complex
ways to determine whether a production system is sustainable.
Where these environmental conditions are favourable, imported
production systems based on advanced technologies and fi nanced
by massive injections of foreign aid to governments may produce
rapid and sustainable agricultural intensifi cation. Such schemes
often fail, however, due to unfavourable conditions. In these
different circumstances, indigenous systems and/or the provision
of micro credit facilities directly to the poor may provide a more
appropriate basis for development. State intervention in land
reform, multinational corporations, and access to local resources,
indigenous rights and wildlife conservation, agrarian and pastoral
confl icts, and changing women's roles in rural and urban life are
