Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 15
Getting Down to Business
In This Chapter
Finding different ways (and places) to make a living
Choosing the best business location
Navigating transportation systems and networks
Moving to cyberspace or real space?
W hen I was about 10 years old, somebody bought me a geography board game in which you scored
points by correctly identifying the key products of different countries. I don't remember how it was
played, but certain facts were seared into my memory. Honduras = bananas. Australia and New Zeal-
and were heavily into sheep, and India produced jute big time. Mind you, I had no idea what jute was,
but I knew that it came from India and that was what mattered!
Over the years I have met several people who not only have a head full of similar facts (Argentina =
beef, South Africa = diamonds), but also equate knowing them with knowing geography. These folks
are not totally misguided.
Economic geography,
the subject of this chapter, is a major subfield of geo-
graphy and concerns the location of different means of livelihood. And indeed, for a long time, eco-
nomic geography was largely concerned with knowing where products came from, and why.
In recent decades, however, economic geography literally has been getting down to business.
That is, though still concerned with the distribution of economic activity, economic geography
has acquired a focus on optimal business locations and strategies that enhance business success.
In so doing, it has come to embody quite strongly the two modes of geographical thinking: ana-
lysis of where things
are
located, and where they
should be
located.
This chapter addresses both perspectives with emphasis on where things
should be
located.
Categorizing Economic Activity
