Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
societies have produced the relatively new phenomenon, in scale
at least, of asylum-seekers searching for a better and safer life in
more advanced societies.
Human geographers have studied and interpreted both the
processes of change and their outcomes. Urbanization and the
emergence of large cities continue to be a strong theme within
human geography. Studies of
globalization
have prompted major
debates at both a conceptual and an empirical level. The Canadian
geographer Wayne Davies defi ned globalization as:
The increasing global spatial fl ows, interdependence of people,
information, goods, organisations and states that are connecting
people and places at a world scale, and are creating changes in the
structures and organisations of society and places.
W. Davies, 'Globalization: A Spatial Perspective' (2004)
One of the most visible impacts of globalization is the spread of
the transnational companies, with brands such as Coca Cola and
McDonalds achieving a ubiquitous appearance in cities across
the world. There are key issues raised by globalization. Do these
ongoing global forces for uniformity submerge local and regional
differences? Are local histories and cultures suffi ciently robust
to retain clear identities? Is it the interests of the main political
and economic power brokers that are driving the globalization
agenda forward? Is it selective in its promotional and control
strategies? As the British geographer Doreen Massey has pointed
out, the concept of free trade in a world without boundaries is
contradicted in areas where strict controls continue to exist.
There is danger of what she terms a 'duplicitous manipulation of
geographical imaginations'.
Urban geography has a long-standing interest in the uneven
distributions of advantage and disadvantage within cities.
