Geographia Polonica (2014) vol. 87, iss. 2

Abstract

There has been much debate about the usefulness of human geography for public and private sector planning.In this paper we make the case in terms of quantitative analysis in geography. We provide a wealth of applicationsof applied research from the perspective of one team of quantitative geographers – based in the Schoolof Geography at the University of Leeds. This research is rooted in spatial interaction modelling, microsimulation,spatial optimisation and geodemographics. A number of applications are explored and their benefitsarticulated – for end-users. i.e. planners in the broadest sense of the word, the University and the School, forstudents and, more broadly, for the research environment within applied spatial analysis.

Keywords: applied quantitative geography, spatial interaction, microsimulation, optimization, geodemographics, GIS, benefits of applied geography

Mark Birkin, Chair of the IGU Commission on Applied Geography
Graham Clarke, University of Leeds School of Geography LS2 9JT Leeds: United Kingdom
Martin Clarke, University of Leeds School of Geography LS2 9JT Leeds: United Kingdom
Alan Wilson, University College London

Abstract

Geography studies the characteristics of space and place. Geography answers questions such as where things, activities or phenomena are located, why they are located there, how the features and activities interact, and what factors cause this distribution. An ideal geographer exercises both scientific and social analytical skills. Geography has been called a bridge between human and physical sciences. In the beginning, geography focussed on the physical aspects of the earth but modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks to understand the earth and all of its human and natural complexities as an integrating science. The paper deals with changing professional avenues for geographers, the role of geography towards the future earth and human geosciences together with the role the IGU can play in the Future of World Geography.

Keywords: geography, global challenges, opportunities, future earth, IGU

Ram Babu Singh, University of Delhi Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics Delhi-110007: India

Abstract

‘Geography education is indispensable to the development of responsible and active citizens in the present and future world’ is one of the main statements in the International Charter on Geographical Education. This charter was edited in 1992 by Haubrich, chair of the Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union (IGU). Twenty years later this statement is still true. Geography educators all over the world are looking for ways to talk with young people about their image of their world and to help them to develop their knowledge, skills and ideas about the complex world we live in. However, different ideas exist about what geography we should learn and teach and how. The Commission on Geographical Education of the International Geographical Union tries to help to improve the quality and position of geography education worldwide, promoting the dissemination of good practices and research results in the field of geography education.

Keywords: geography education, children´s geographies, Rome declaration, research in geographical education, international co-operation

Joop Van der Schee, Faculty of Geosciences University of Utrecht Heidelberglaan 2, 3584 CS Utrecht: The Netherlands
John Lidstone, Cultural and Language Studies in Education Queensland University of Technology Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Queensland 4059: Australia
Clare Brooks, Institute of Education University of London 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL: United Kingdom

Abstract

Biogeography is, in essence, the geography of nature or more specifically, the study of the distribution of Earth’s life forms at all spatial and temporal scales. This paper traces the historical development of biogeography from ancient times to the twenty-first century, highlights contemporary trends and expansions, and previews future prospects. The cumulative discovery of biogeographic patterns culminated in the development of the theory of evolution – biogeography’s greatest contribution to science. The paradigm shift to causal approaches in the early twentieth century led to ecological biogeography emerging as the second pillar of biogeography in additionto historical biogeography. Fostered by the acceptance of plate tectonics, the equilibrium theory of islandbiogeography, the rapid advancement of new perspectives and methods in historical biogeography, and revolutionary advances in compiling, visualizing, and analyzing spatially explicit information, biogeography evolved into a rigorous science during the second half of the twentieth century. Currently, major active sub-fields arephylo geography, macroecology, and conservation biogeography. Biogeography is on the way to becoming a ‘bigscience’, entering an era of increasingly integrative and multi-faceted approaches, increasingly accessible andavailable data, tools, and techniques, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Given unprecedented human impacts and the dramatic transformation of the Earth system, biogeography matters more than ever, both in the discoveryand in the conservation of biodiversity.

Keywords: biodiversity, biogeographic patterns, conservation, distribution, ecology, history, interdisciplinarity, macroecology, phylogeography

Udo Schickhoff, Chair of the IGU Commission on Biogeography and Biodiversity
Mark A. Blumler, University of Hamburg Institute of Geography CEN Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability
Andrew C. Millington, University of Hamburg Institute of Geography CEN Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability

Abstract

We stand on the cusp of an era when anyone with internet access can make a map. With six billion mobilephone subscribers and 2.3 billion internet users will GIS play much of a role in how make and use maps? This paper begins with this question and explores some of the dimensions of how GIS will change in a new world – a world where GIS is integral to countless online activities and hence disappears from most uses. This is world not without GIS, but a post-GIS world of ubiquitous location technologies. While many of these developments,they have negative potential and the article points to areas to consider carefully.

Keywords: GIS, information society, internet, data-driven science, ubiquitous computing

Francis Harvey, University of Minnesota, Department of Geography, Environment and Society, MN 55455, Minneapolis: USA

Abstract

For decades, we have been witnessing a gradual disintegration of geography. The issue was first flagged at the turn of the 19th century, but the process accelerated in the late 1960s. The term ‘geography’ has been increasingly replaced with other terms and one of the effects has been a diminishing status of geography in public awareness. Polish geographers attempted to address the problem as early as in the first decades of the 20th century, but these efforts, especially before 1939, remain obscure. Researchers continued their work even during the Second World War when they were often operating in extreme conditions. This scientific heritage has a potential to be used in contemporary work on a new view of geography at a time of increasing globalisation.

Keywords: geography, Polish geography, disintegration, history of geography, Poland

Antoni Jackowski, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management Jagiellonian University Gronostajowa 7, 31-007 Krakow: Poland

Abstract

Geography has never been so accessible; new media present documentaries about diverse places, supported by travelogues that ask intriguing questions, with superb imagery of natural and cultural features, all supported by emerging digital cartographies. These geographies reach many more people than the well-cited texts of 19th century geographers such as Humboldt and Ritter, yet the paradox is that contemporary Geography is not identified as a critical part of the educational entitlement of young people. The essay explores this paradox with reference to the changes in education in the last 150 years and a commentary on the scholars and institutional frameworks that share responsibility for the current and future status of the discipline. Since 1996 the International Geographical Union (IGU) has accepted a key challenge faced by Geography; the process of fostering the regeneration of the discipline by engaging young people. The IGU has supported ten International Geography Olympiads since 1996, with the eleventh Olympiad scheduled for Cracow in 2014. The essay outlines the nature of the Olympiad where field trips and cultural activities provide an unparalleled experience for young scholars exhibiting international excellence in Geography. These young people are our future.

Keywords: young geographers, geographical education, International Geography Olympiad, Cracow, International Geographical Union, International Year of Global Understanding

Lex Chalmers, University of Waikato Geography, Tourism & Environmental Planning 3210, Hamilton: New Zealand
Kathryn Berg, Royal Geographical Society of Queensland 237 Milton Rd, 4064 Queensland: Australia

Abstract

To mark the 50th anniversary of Geographia Polonica, we are publishing an interview with Professor Leszek Antoni Kosiński, who was a member of its first editorial team.

Leszek Kosiński, Institute of Geography PAN, Warsaw
Przemysław Śleszyński [psleszyn@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

In 1934, the International Geographical Union arrived in Warsaw to attend its Congress which was held between 23rd and 31st August. A decision to accept the offer of the Polish government and meet for the first time in a Slavic country was taken at the previous Congress in Paris, in 1931. The Congress was attendedby 693 participants from 44 countries, including 350 from Poland. The programme included 12 regional and thematic excursions and several cartographic exhibitions. Four volumes of Comptes Rendus du Congrès Internationalde Géographie containing the proceedings of the Congress were published between 1935 and 1938.

Keywords: history of geography, international geographical congress, International Geographical Union, Warsaw, Poland

Antoni Jackowski, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management Jagiellonian University Gronostajowa 7, 31-007 Krakow: Poland
Elżbieta Bilska-Wodecka, Jagiellonian University Institute of Geography and Spatial Management ul. Gronostajowa 7, 30–387 Krakow: Poland
Izabela Sołjan, Jagiellonian University Institute of Geography and Spatial Management ul. Gronostajowa 7, 30–387 Krakow: Poland

Abstract

The article presents the nearly 20-year-long history of the International Geography Olympiad (iGeo) – from a modest start with 5 participating countries during the 1st Olympiad in the Hague, the Netherlands, to the 11th Olympiad that will be held this year in Kraków, Poland. The arrival of 37 teams from 5 continents has been confirmed. Poland has participated in all the iGeo’s. Polish participants finished in the top places several times, both individually and as a team. These results showcase the high standards of the Polish students and their teachers as well as the effectiveness of the geography education provided in Poland.

Keywords: geographical education, iGeo, International Geographical Union, International Geography Olympiad, Poland

Marek Barwiński, University of Łódź Faculty of Geographical Sciences Kopcińskiego 31, 90-142 Łódź: Poland e-mail: marbar@geo.uni.lodz.pl
Tomasz Sawicki, International Geographical Union Olympiad Task Force Podbipięty 2, 02-732 Warsaw: Poland
Joanna Uroda, University of Warsaw Faculty of Geology Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warsaw: Poland

Abstract

This study presents the delimitation of functional urban regions in Poland modified using the Nyusten-Daceymethod based on the data regarding commuting in 2006. The modification involved establishing an administrative and settlement hierarchy to serve as the basis on which the order of precedence of flows to individual communes was determined, and supplementing it with the combination of inflows and outflows in a given hubregion. A total of 456 individual regions were isolated, including 1 capital region, 21 regional, 54 sub-regional, 212 local (powiat), and 168 other local regions.

Keywords: functional urban region, daily urban system, commuting, Nystuen-Dacey method, Poland

Przemysław Śleszyński [psleszyn@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland