Geography Commons^™

Conclusion: Hanging By A Thread: The Future Of Cotton In Africa, Leslie C. Gray, William G. Moseley

Environmental Studies and Sciences

Several broad themes emerge from the chapters in this volume. While declining world prices are a serious issue, the ability of farmers to weather declines in prices is often determined by national and local issues. These include government policy, institutions that provide marketing and supply services, access to resources such as land, labor, and agricultural inputs, and individual decision making. Despite declining world prices, some cotton growing economies have had success with cotton production while others have not fared well. In particular, the failure of cotton institutions in many countries is striking.Whether it comes to managing input distribution, new technologies, …

Getting To Know Lents: A Thematic Atlas Of Healthy Eating And Active Living, Allison Adcox, Marina Carter, Allen Davis, Jonathan Gray

Asset Mapping: Community Geography Project

This project was made possible by Portland State University spring and summer capstone students 2008 in conjunction with Community Health Partnership: Oregon’s Public Health Institute. This atlas describes some of the work of the Lents neighborhood Healthy Eating Active Living initiative, which is directed by Noelle Dobson of the Community Health Partnership, Oregon’s Public Health Institute. Created through a lens of healthy eating and active living, this atlas is intended to describe the historical richness and importance of the Lents community and exhibit significant projects and programs in the area.

Small Town Urban Revitalization: The Effect Of Pullman Square On Downtown Huntington, West Virginia, Amy R. Blankenship

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

After many years of being the center of shopping, business and entertainment, the downtown began to decline nationally. This decline began after the end of WWII and ran concurrent to the beginning of suburbanization and the emergence of large, indoor shopping malls. Many cities began to realize the importance of a healthy downtown and implemented strategies to revitalize their downtown. This thesis focuses on the emergence of Pullman Square in Huntington, WV, its effect on the downtown, and how it has spawned other retail development and revitalization strategies throughout the city center.

Expansion Of Golf Courses In The United States, Darrell Napton, Chris Laingen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Twenty-five million Americans play golf on the nation's 16,000 courses each year. These golf courses constitute a significant national landscape feature. Since 18789, when the game arrived in the United States, golf has filtered down the urban, economic, and social hierarchies to become accepted by and accessible to most Americans. During the ensuing thirteen decades the number, location, and layout of the nation's golf courses have responded to many of the same driving forces that impacted the nation, including decentralization, growth of the middle class, war, economic depression, suburbanization, and the increasing role of the federal government. Four epochs of …

Expansion Of Golf Courses In The United States, Darrell E. Napton, Chris Laingen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Twenty-five million Americans play golf on the nation's 16,000 courses each year. These golf courses constitute a significant national landscape feature. Since 18789, when the game arrived in the United States, golf has filtered down the urban, economic, and social hierarchies to become accepted by and accessible to most Americans. During the ensuing thirteen decades the number, location, and layout of the nation's golf courses have responded to many of the same driving forces that impacted the nation, including decentralization, growth of the middle class, war, economic depression, suburbanization, and the increasing role of the federal government. Four epochs of …

Not Your Father’S Border: An Examination Of The Border In Northern Ireland And Its Relevance To The Global Change In The Importance Of World Borders, Aaron Patterson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Humanity has long maintained barriers separating specific entities from others. Ranging from cultural, religious, financial, and racial differences among a few others, the reasoning behind borders has remained a purely human endeavor. But our current golden age of technology has somewhat shrunk, or at least reassessed the necessity for borders. The boundaries of today, while many remain in the same locations as in the past, are vastly different from the borders created by previous generations. Globalization, a relatively new term, has made communication simple and fast. The noticeable result has been, of course, better communication between locations, and thus easing …

Maya: An Integrated Curriculum Unit, Institute For The Development Of Gifted Education, Ricks Center For Gifted Children, University Of Denver

Ricks Curriculum Units Series

An integrated curriculum is an instructional approach that connects the disciplines to an underlying theme or topic. Immersing students in an integrated-thematic unit provides the backdrop for experiences to occur across the disciplines. Shaping coursework around integrated themes is especially appropriate for gifted students, however using an integrated-thematic curriculum is appropriate for all learners as it develops students' abilities to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to integrate information from different fields of experience. An integrated-thematic curriculum permits students to be active participants in their own learning as they design their own explorations and take …

The Perceptual Northwest, James Lowry, Mark Patterson, William Forbes

Faculty Articles

Our goal is to survey cultural perceptions defining the U.S. Northwest region. As geographers, we should concern ourselves with mental constructs of regions, as they can easily impede or facilitate communication. Assumptions of others’ regional boundaries and images may be erroneous. Over the past several decades, a handful of geographers have begun to examine these perceptual (or vernacular) maps and regions. Students at 21 colleges and universities were asked to identify: (1) boundaries of the U.S. Northwest region; (2) Northwest regional characteristics and symbols; and (3) what cities or other places best represent the Northwest.

Nationally, student respondents largely followed …

Diminished Access, Diverted Exclusion: Women And Land Tenure In Sub-Saharan Africa, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray

Economics

Increasing commercialization, population growth and concurrent increases in land value have affected women's land rights in Africa. Most of the literature concentrates on how these changes have led to an erosion of women's rights. This paper examines some of the processes by which women's rights to land are diminishing. First, we examine cases where rights previously utilized have become less important; that is, the incidence of exercising rights has decreased. Second, we investigate how women's rights to land decrease as the public meanings underlying the social interpretation and enforcement of rights are manipulated. Third, we examine women's diminishing access to …

Land Tenure And Rental In Western Sudan, Michael Kevane, Leslie C. Gray

Economics

This paper reports on aspects of land tenure in western Sudan, especially the nature of tenure insecurity and the functioning of the land rental market. The active land rental market accounted for about one-third of cultivated land. Patterns of land rental transactions, and tests of the importance of insecurity in renting land, where the owner may not be able to reclaim land rented out, do not support the presumption that rental markets perform poorly. The role of the sheikh as administrator of village land, and the claims of large landowners to vast tracts, are, however, important political problems that must …

How The Formal Education System In Kenya Is Changing The Culture Of The Maasai Community, Jennifer Coles

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Colonialism brough Africa into the sphere of European dominance and laid the ground work for the adoption of neoliberal globalization. This has affected change for the Maasai of southern Kenya who had attempted to remain isolated for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, such cultural isolation has been disrupted by global tourism and the desire of western citizens to view and participate in ‘authentic’ experiences in unique Maasai environments; thus creating a global desire to visit the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR). The MMNR is part of Maasailand and has exposed many in the surrounding communities to new …

Multi-Method Assessment Of Newcomer Settlement Experiences In Kitchener-Waterloo, Qaseem Ludin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Every day hundreds of newcomers begin a new life in Canada. Some are refugees fleeing persecution, others come to join family, and yet others (mostly the economic and independent categories) are seeking to make a better life for themselves. In all, since 2000 around 250,000 people have settled in Canada each year. Their backgrounds and personal histories may be widely different and each one’s experience on arrival is unique. The communities across Canada into which they integrate differ too in their character and in the manner in which they receive newcomers. For many new Canadians, there are, nevertheless, certain shared …

The Human Activity-Travel Rescheduling Decision Process, Andrew F. Clark

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Over the past few decades the activity scheduling decision process has become an important topic for transportation researchers, including how people reschedule their daily activities and travel in reaction to change. Rescheduling decisions include modifications/updates to timing, location/route, involved persons, event/mode type, and other attributes of activities/trips, as well as addition and deletion of completely new events. Such decisions occur as part of an ongoing process over time, space and across individuals. This thesis developed and applied a new data collection methodology for exploring the rescheduling decision process. The methodology had four main stages: capturing preplanned schedules; Global Positioning System …

Intra-Urban Analysis Of Commercial Locations: A Gis-Based Approach, Christopher D. Storie

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The urban landscape is an interspersed mixing of residences, shops, theaters, parks, natural areas, and a multitude of other uses. From the early days of the central markets, to the planned downtown, to the heavily planned super-regional shopping complexes, commercial landscapes evolve. There has been considerable research conducted on analyzing the commercial structure of urban environments in an attempt to better understanding the nature of retailing and its resultant impacts on the geography of the city.

This research has three broad goals: a) to develop a technique that makes operational, in a systematized and objective manner, an approach to analyzing …

Assessing The ‘Hazards Of Place’ Model Of Vulnerability: A Case Study Of Waterloo Region, Erin Joakim

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research project examines the Hazards of Place model of vulnerability (as developed by Cutter, 1996) to determine whether it is applicable in a Canadian context.

An in-depth case study of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo was used to determine whether the model accurately describes:

1. emergency and community practitioners understandings of vulnerability and vulnerable populations in Waterloo Region
2. emergency and community practitioners perceptions of the variables that influence vulnerabilities
3. mitigation and preparedness efforts that could be enhanced and/or implemented to reduce the vulnerability of individuals and groups in Waterloo Region

To complete this study, in-depth interviews and surveys were conducted …

Demographic, Economic, And Social Transformations In The South Bronx: Changes In The Nyc Community Districts Comprising Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Longwood, And Hunts Point, 1990 - 2005, Astrid S. Rodríguez

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report analyzes demographic and socioeconomic characteristics among the five largest Latino nationality groups during 1990-2005 in South Bronx, specifically the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, Longwood, and Hunts Point.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Puerto Ricans are the largest Latino subgroup in the South Bronx, accounting for over half of the total population by 2005 although their …

Kaleidoscope Eyes: Geography, Gender, And The Media, Christina E. Dando

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

We are suggesting…a change in attitudes and perceptions, a substantial shift in the angle of vision, a recognition, in short, of the supreme social, and thus geographic, fact that women, as individuals or as a class, exist under much different conditions and constraints in a world quite different from, however, closely linked with, that inhabited by males. The human geographer must view reality stereoscopically, so to speak, through the eyes of both men and women, since to do otherwise is to remain more than half-blind.

(Zelinsky, Monk and Hanson 1982, 353)¹

Picture yourself in a boat on a river, …

The Rise Of A Hispanic Enclave In Davidson County, Tennessee, Jim Chaney

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In recent years, the United States has observed a significant increase in the Hispanic population within its borders through immigration. Since the 1980s, there has been a shift in the immigration and movement of the Hispanic population from border states to states in the southeastern United States. Many Hispanics, attracted by employment opportunities, have moved into growing metropolitan areas in the American South. In some of these cities, new Hispanic immigrants have created distinct enclaves. These enclaves provide almost all needs for the Hispanic community, such as shopping, healthcare, legal assistance, dining, employment, entertainment, and religion. This study examines the …

Chicago And Hope Vi: Examining The Dislocation Of Urban Poor, Todd W. Sink

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The inception of HOPE VI in 1992 was proposed as a solution to concentrated poverty and disinvestment in inner city neighborhoods. The US General Accounting Office estimates that as of November 2003, approximately 49,000 people have been forced to relocate to permanent or temporary residences since the nationwide implementation of HOPE VI. Today, the effects of HOPE VI on the urban poor of Chicago have received little attention. This research examines the dislocation of urban poor and possible gentrification in Chicago's public housing areas, and the socioeconomic condition of new destinations for voucher movers. 111 Twenty public housing tracts and …

Healthy Eating And Active Living In North Portland: Asset Mapping With G.I.S., Arthur Aldridge, Susan M. Anderson, Mike Aspros, Lisa Barnes, Matt Bergstrom, Ambra Bingham, Ernest Bork, Sara Cottam, Jeremy Crawford, Shawna Graber, Jonathan Jubera, Patrick Louisel, Rebecca Symonds, Eric Wright

Asset Mapping: Community Geography Project

Making community development as democratic as possible has long been a challenge for urban planners and municipalities alike. A number of obstacles stand in the way of greater community participation in the planning process and consequently communities who are best served by their design. Visual Preference Surveys (VPS) are a tool planners can use to increase participation in the design process within the communities they serve. This can result in community plans that more accurately reflect the wants or needs of its members. Relying heavily on image driven content, VPS offers communities a straightforward methodology that asks participants to rate …

Geo-Politics, The ‘War On Terror’ And The Competitiveness Of The City Of London, Richard Woodward

Books/Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Scope And Nature Of Panhandling And The Related Crime In Denver, Colorado, Megan A. Gall

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Nationally, increases in the number of panhandlers and homeless people are associated with social and economic issues and are the subject of public policy debate, sociological inquiry and public interest (DHPG 2003). Panhandlers and homeless people are collectively called transients for this research. In the 1950s, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill caused the first major influx of homelessness. Discrepancies between affordable housing and wages grew through the 1960s and 1970s and the problem did not gain national attention until the 1980s (DCEH n.d.). The increased attention is primarily due to the continued scarcity of housing, increasing discrepancies between housing …

Healthy Eating Active Living: A Project Of The Spring 2007 North Portland Asset Mapping Capstone, Andrew Clarke, Melissa Lindsey, Greg Waite, Robert Y. Lee

Asset Mapping: Community Geography Project

Our mission is to identify, map, and link assets that promote healthy eating and active living in St. Johns and Portsmouth. This study will target young families with the intent of creating a tool that will aid in defining incentives and barriers for the community.

Cultural Icons And Urban Development In Asia: Economic Imperative, National Identity, And Global City Status, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Global cities are characterized by the multiplicity of flows that they are implicated in - flows of people, goods, services, ideas, and images. Yet, global cities do not derive their status only on the basis that they are networked nodes. They also require particular forms of cultural capital. Cities with global aspirations have thus increasingly recognized the need to accumulate cultural capital, for which one means is to create new urban spaces, in particular, new cultural urban spaces (e.g. grand theatres, museums, libraries). These often monumental structures are intended to support a vibrant cultural life, in order to attract and …

Marketing The Chinese Dream Home: Gated Communities And Representations Of The Good Life In (Post-)Socialist Shanghai, Choon-Piew Pow, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper examines the advertising themes and rhetoric that have been assembled in the place-marketing of Shanghai's newly built gated communities. We demonstrate how place-marketing strategies, in this case selling the Chinese dream home, draws upon specific landscape meanings and values that are embedded in Chinese/ Shanghainese history, even as symbolic and cultural capital from the contemporary scene also exert their influences. Collectively, these representations of the good life both reflect and reinforce the exclusivist housing aspirations and privatist visions of middle-class residents of gated communities in contemporary Shanghai. While advertisements do not always achieve the outcomes that property developers …

Review Of Disputed Territories: Land, Culture And Identity In Settler Societies, Edited By D. Trigger And G. Griffiths, Christina E. Dando

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

The phrase “disputed territories” can represent a great many things, from actual land to the metaphor of academic turf. The landscapes of Australasia and southern Africa have long been, and continue to be, disputed territories. This volume developed out of a year-long program of interdisciplinary seminars entitled “Land, Place, Culture, Identity” at the University of Western Australia, which explored the intersection of history, representation, and identity in Australasia and southern Africa. The volume’s ten essays explore the “imaginative possession” of the land (p. 3), and cover a range of topics in both historical and contemporary settings. The contributions roam widely, …

The Effects Of Access To Childcare On The Labor Force Participation Of Women In The Huntington-Ashland Metropolitan Statistical Area And West Virginia, Kristi Stephens

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This paper examines the connection between access to childcare and labor force participation of women in the Huntington-Ashland MSA and in West Virginia by evaluating the connection between the number of daycare slots available and several socio-economic factors. Based on data gathered from daycare resource groups and the U.S. Census Bureau, access to childcare is connected with the ability of women with children to participate in the labor force. This effect is seen more strongly in rural West Virginia than the more urbanized Huntington- Ashland MSA and the number of childcare slots available may be influenced by, or is influencing, …

Webs Of Power: Multiple Ownership In Tourism Destinations, Ziene Mottiar, Hazel Tucker

Articles

It has been widely noted in the tourism small business literature that collaboration between groups of businesses operating within clusters contributes both to business development and the success of destinations and regions. This paper aims to contribute to the research on tourism destination networks by focusing on multiple ownership, or portfolio entrepreneurship, when more than one small or micro business within a specific destination are owned by the same entrepreneur. Courtown, in Ireland and Göreme in Turkey are presented as two case studies in which the existence of multiple owners was identified. The implications of multiple ownership on tourism operation …

No. 2: The Prospects For Migration Data Harmonization In The Sadc, Vincent Williams, Tiffany Tsang

Southern African Migration Programme

No abstract provided.

No. 3: A Migration Audit Of Poverty Reduction Strategies In Southern Africa, Benjamin Roberts

Southern African Migration Programme

Southern Africa is characterized by long-established patterns of intra-regional migration, with countries sending and receiving labour migrants especially for employment in mines and on commercial farms and plantations since the late nineteenth century. However, these pat­terns and processes have undergone notable change in recent decades, the outcome being a progressive intensification of mobility in the region. The underlying determinants of this trend include increased and new opportunities for internal and cross-border movement follow­ing the end of apartheid, the region’s increasing engagement with the global economy, persistently high and worsening levels of poverty and unemployment, the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, …