Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(see box). The new paradigm led to the 'Age of Models'.
Long-extant versions, such as Von Thünen's land-use zones of
1826, developed by a German landowner and land economist,
and the German geographer Walther Christaller's central
place theory of the 1930s, came into prominence. Both were
concerned with the ways in which land-use and settlement would
develop over a 'model' uniform surface. For Von Thunen, the
key to rural land-use was the fact that land nearer to the farm
holding would be worked more intensively and produce crops
such as horticulture, whereas more distant fi elds would be used
extensively for pastoral farming. Distance from the farm was a
cost and the economics of land-use could be best managed in
this way.
Spatial analysis and the quantitative revolution
This approach developed from the 1950s and was designed
to make human geography (and geography as a whole) more
scientifi c. The approach emphasized the need to turn away
from the unique aspects of the Earth's surface - as embodied
in regional geography - and to follow the philosophy of
science in seeking generalizations that could be verifi ed. As
these principles were imported into spatial analysis, some
key features were:
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An interest in patterns and shapes or the geometry of
space.
The use of representative samples.
The use of measurement, numerical methods, and
statistics.
The development of testable hypotheses, models, and
theories.
A search for models and algorithms with predictive
power to allow, for example, optimal locations to be
identifi ed and spatial change over time to be analysed.
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