GEG 107 Development, Resources, and Sustainability

Lecture Hours: 4
Credits: 4

Introduces economic aspects of cultural geography worldwide, including the study of development, agriculture, industry, services, settlement, urban landscapes, and natural resource issues. Special emphasis is placed on the unequal distribution of power in the U.S. with regard to employment, income, settlement patterns, urban land use, and natural resource management.

Prerequisite: Placement into WR 115 (or higher), or completion of WR 090 (or higher) with a grade of C or better; or consent of instructor.
Student Learning Outcomes:

Explain how development is measured, and describe characteristics of more developed and less developed regions.
Compare and contrast agricultural production in more and less developed regions.
Describe the global distribution of industry.
Analyze how industrial and retail sites are selected.
Identify key localizing factors for settlement and assess their relative importance.
Explain central place theory and evaluate its usefulness.
Discuss the internal structure of cities and describe urbanization and suburbanization.
List and describe current resource management conflicts and formulate possible solutions.
Assess how a geographic perspective provides insight into resource management issues.
Analyze current world events from a geographical perspective.

Content Outline

Thinking Geographically
- Discipline of geography
  - Major geographic themes
  - Reading maps
- Subfields of cultural and economic geography
- Globalization
Development
- Human Development Index
- Development indicators
- Development through trade
Agriculture
- Distribution
- Types of agriculture
  - Subsistance
  - Commercial agriculture
- Challenges for agriculture
Industry
- Origin and distribution
  - Industrial Revolution
  - Major industrial regions
- Industrial location
  - Situation factors
  - Site factors
Settlements and Services
- Distribution of cities
- Urbanization
- Types of services
- Central Place Theory
- Market area analysis
Urban Patterns
- Defining urban settlements
- Central Business District (CBD)
- Urban structure and transportation
- Suburbanization
- Inner-city decline and renewal
Resource Issues
- Renewable and nonrenewable resources
- Depleting, conserving, and reusing resources