Human Geography Commons^™

A Heart Of Gold

DePaul Magazine

An interview with alumnus, retired insurance executive and DePaul Life Trustee Bertram ("Bert") Scott, chairman of the American Heart Association (AHA). He hopes to help focus attention on the social determinants of health, increase research, address vaping illnesses and foster diversity communities to get involved with the AHA.

Population Growth In Major Mountain West Metros, 2010 - 2019, Marie A. Falcone, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

On March 26, 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau released population estimates for the time period between July 2010 and July 2019. Brookings senior fellow, William H. Frey suggests that “Even before coronavirus, census shows U.S. cities’ growth was stagnating.” This fact sheet explores population growth trends in 5 Mountain West Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) with populations over one million residents (i.e. Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Tucson).

The Southwest Megapolitan Triangle: Immigration And Population Growth, Yanneli Llamas, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This Fact Sheet analyzes population changes in three Mountain West metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs): Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA; Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ; and Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV. Collectively, these three major metropolitan areas are known as the Southwest Megapolitan Triangle. This Fact Sheet illustrates population changes between 2010 and 2018, using data provided by Brookings Institution senior fellow and demographer, William H. Frey, in his report titled, “As Americans spread out, immigration plays a crucial role in local population growth.” By 2019, more than 20 million Americans called this region home.

"Ni Hao" Is The New "Aloha": Asia's Rise In Tourism, Julianne Binns

Marriott Student Review

Asia has become one of the fastest growing areas in terms of travel and tourism. When it comes to investing in tourism (in ay form) one should keep a watchful eye on the region. This paper addresses the evidence of growth, reasons behind the growth, and what to expect in the future. As the region strengthens in economic power and shines light on its positives, more travelers are making their way to (or around) Asia. With coronavirus now being quelled in the region, it is only a matter of time before the numbers pick back up again. No doubt, the …

The Urban Morphology Of Hyderabad, India: A Historical Geographic Analysis, Kevin B. Haynes

Masters Theses

Hyderabad, India has undergone tremendous change over the last three centuries. The study seeks to understand how and why Hyderabad transitioned from a north-south urban morphological directional pattern to east-west during from 1687 to 2019. Satellite-based remote sensing will be used to measure the extent and land classifications of the city throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century using a geographic information science and historical-geographic approach. This approach provides the basis for a structured archival historical-geographic analysis. Focusing on Hyderabad, India from 1687 to 2019, the objectives of this research are to: (1) delineate and quantify the geographic extent of built-up …

Labor, Land Use, And The Luxury City, Samuel Stein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Labor, Land Use, and the Luxury City is an examination into the entanglements of working-class organizations, real estate capital, and state planning in 20th and 21st century New York City. Through theoretical inquiry, historical interpretation, and contemporary analysis, I investigate the motivations – both internally generated and externally imposed – that guide New York City unions’ and non-profits’ decision-making around questions of land use and gentrification. These institutions maintain a complex set of relationships to both real estate capital and the real estate state, leading many unions and non-profits to either support land use changes that accelerate gentrification or negotiate …

How To Break An Addiction: A Case For Planetary Post-Capitalist Recovery, Ann Marie (Annie) Spencer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents an evidence-based, geographically informed theory of so-called addiction in the capitalist mode of production. Taking the present-day opioid epidemic as its point of departure, it argues that ‘addiction,’ rather than an anomalous, individuated pathology, is an organizing principle of capitalist social formations. Neither moral nor medical, ‘addiction’ is a structural and pervasive expression of life lived under the capitalist mode of production. Capitalism, society structured in pursuit of profit, produces human subjects with deleterious dependencies on addictive commodity substances by design and in mass. The methodology of the project is consciousness expansion through pattern recognition, stitching together …

How Globalization, Sustainability, And Human Impacts Are Affecting Two Major Mexican Cities: Mexico City And Guadalajara, Cristina Sedano

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mexico is one of the richest countries in the world, not in terms of economic stability but in terms of natural resources, culture, and atmosphere. When people think of Mexico, they usually think of the high-tension relationship with the United States, their neighboring country to the North. Although there are many diverse historical and present-day characteristics of Mexico, most associate the county with the high levels of crime due to narco and cartels, the high levels of poverty in regional areas, and to some just a party destination. Unbeknownst to many is the thousands year old culture that is passed …

Neighborhood Change In Las Vegas, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This Fact Sheet analyzes indicators of demographic and economic change in Las Vegas neighborhoods and suburbs, provided by “American Neighborhood Change in the 21st Century,” a study published by the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity (IMO) at the Minnesota Law School. Researchers reviewed data from the 2000 U.S. Census and the 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) for the top 50 largest metros in the U.S. The study reports levels of neighborhood change, including economic growth, poverty concentration, gentrification, and low-income displacement. Data pertaining to the Las Vegas metropolitan region are synthesized to measure indicators of economic viability and housing availability.

House Ownership In Selangor: A Qualitative Study On Consumers Preferences And Challenges, Packeer Mohamed Nur Syafiqah

Student Works (2020-2029)

The residential real estate market in Selangor offers diverse house types following the fact that the state has highest number of workers. It is important for a proper decision-making process by taking consider a few factors such as financial and neighbourhood factors in a house purchase. Based on residential housing market data in Selangor, Petaling district was found to have the most purchases and the 2 to 2 and a half storey house type is the most purchased out of the variety, and there are also cases where there are completed houses that were not purchased by the residents, even …

Fair World 64: A Text-Based Game Of The 1964–1965 World's Fair, Christofer R. Gass

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The project is a text-based game of a typical day during the first season of the 1964 World’s Fair in what is now Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The 1964-1965 World’s Fair, that Robert Moses presided over as president, was one of the largest and most expensive fairs ever created, but only days after the last fairgoer left through the turnstile most of the many pavilions that brought education, entertainment, and joy to so many people were destroyed to leave a vast open space that is relatively empty to this day. Although most of the pavilions were either relocated or demolished, there …

Reclaiming Indiana: The Politics Of Crisis Amid The Failures Of Liberal Capitalist Modernity, Chris Grove

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnography examines grassroots political responses to the economic crisis that began in 2008, foremost in the US Midwest, which arguably laid the groundwork both for the election of President Donald Trump and presidential candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders. President Obama launched his $787 billion stimulus plan in Elkhart, Indiana, in early 2009. At the height of the crisis, unemployment skyrocketed from four to 20 percent in Elkhart, and it became central to struggles over the political direction of the US. With few safety nets, Elkhart residents struggled to meet their basic needs, creating conditions for political organizing on both …

Young Children's Play In High-Rise Housing: A Window Into The Changing Lives Of Urban Middle-Class Families In Pune Metropolitan Area, Sruthi Atmakur-Javdekar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation aims to identify the combinations of spatial arrangements and physical features that influence young children’s access to play and the quality of their play opportunities in a heterogeneous sample of high-rise housing in India. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Human Development as a framework, the study examines two large umbrellas that contribute to young children’s play opportunities in high-rise housing developments: (1) The play environment that is made available for children by developers and design professionals; and (2) Parents’ and caregivers’ ways of using the designated and undesignated spaces based on their own play values and beliefs. A …

Branding The Sacral Landscape: Religious Content In Regional Tourism Marketing, Set In A Post-Secular Society, Markus Hilpert

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

There is a paucity of research on the branding of sacral landscapes as a regional strategy in tourism marketing. On the one hand, the concept of place branding, to date, has been transferred very little to sacred destinations, while on the other hand, religious content and modern tourist marketing barely fit together. Nonetheless, the perception of religion in a postmodern society opens up new opportunities for sacred places to reposition themselves in the competition faced by tourist destinations. The aim of this article is to show how German tourism regions with a religious focus build their brand. Through analyzing six …

Anchorite Sacred Caves In Serbia: Balancing Between Pilgrimage And Religious Tourism Development, Aleksandar Antić

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Serbia is a country with diverse karst terrain, full of various surface and underground karst formations. This terrain is one of the factors that influenced the development of cultures and civilizations in this area. Many archaeological findings indicate that prehistoric people found refuge, safety and peace in many caves in present-day Serbia. The natural environment has also influenced many spiritual endeavours, which have shaped cultural identities throughout history. In this study, Orthodox anchorite sacred caves in Serbia are explored, as well as their related pilgrimage activities and potential for religious tourism development. For the purpose of this research, three pilgrimage …

(Re)Inscribing Meaning: Embodied Religious-Spiritual Practices At Croagh Patrick And Our Lady’S Island, Ireland, Richard Scriven, Eoin O'Mahony

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Responding to calls for critical interrogations of pilgrimages, our paper examines how different religious meanings are (re)inscribed in spaces through the performance of annual events in a post-secular context. This focus reveals how pilgrims’ embodied practices are fundamental to continuing definitions of these locations as sacred places. Using accounts of the Croagh Patrick and Our Lady’s Island pilgrimages in Ireland, we trace the movement of people in these spaces focusing on how meanings are forged, refracted, and challenged through the performances. These mass embodiments assert traditional understandings of Christian worship and looser spiritual interpretations, while simultaneously involving secular concerns. The …

Architecture And Geography Of China Proper: Influence Of Geography On The Diversity Of Chinese Traditional Architectural Motifs And The Cultural Values They Reflect, Shiqi Liang

Culture, Society, and Praxis

This article examines regional geographical differences and their reflection in the diversity of Chinese traditional architectural motifs within China proper. This article specifically focuses on how regional geographical differences lead people to prioritize different cultural values and how those values were reflected in their respective architectural motifs.

Immigrants And Their Voting Power In Nevada, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

This Fact Sheet presents the number of both documented and undocumented immigrants in Nevada, synthesizing data provided by New American Economy (NAE), a bipartisan research non-profit organization. To estimate the total number of immigrants in the U.S. and across each of the 50 states, researchers reviewed various data sources including the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, the Center for Migration Studies, and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

La Maestra’S Circle Of Care: Studying The Impact Of An Integrated Service Model On The Health And Well-Being Of Vulnerable Populations, Zara Marselian

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

There is an urgent need to reform the health care delivery system in the United States, as recognized through current bipartisan efforts. Society’s vulnerable populations especially need health care reform as health care outcomes are the poorest among disadvantaged populations. Moreover, vulnerable populations are twice as likely to develop chronic diseases than the general population and they remain ill due to other contextual, societal factors affecting their ability to achieve health and well-being. This population is subjected to adverse life events that suggest a more comprehensive approach to health and well-being is called for.

The Circle of Care is …

Lgbtqc: Queer Perspectives On The Illinois-Iowa Quad Cities, Robert Burke

Anthropology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Cities are broadly conceived to be queer utopia when compared with rural spaces. While the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa fit this simplistic model in some ways, the region has several unique characteristics that warrant their own investigation. I argue that the social climate of the Quad Cities is generally perceived as welcoming and inclusive by the LGBTQ+ community. However, despite an assortment of community-building institutions, some find socialization and partner-seeking a bit difficult. Many advocate for investment in a variety of physical LGBTQ+ “third places” (public gathering places), which would yield a variety of benefits for this community. …

Geographies Of Empty Spaces On Print And Digital Reference Maps: A Study Of Washington State, Sterling Quinn

Geography Faculty Scholarship

J. B. Harley’s insistence that “there is no such thing as an empty space on a map” invites critical inquiry into which places are being left blank in popular reference maps, and why. I discuss the myriad reasons that items may not appear on a map, and invite a rethinking of the way selection is conceptualized in cartographic education. In this study, several GIS-supported methods are used to identify and compare consistently empty areas in print and digital maps of Washington State made by Google, Microsoft, OpenStreetMap, Rand McNally, National Geographic, and the state Department of Transportation. I then examine …

Mapping Ecological Futures: Toward A Cartography Of Climate Justice, Timothy C. Lau

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of climate justice importantly reveals the uneven impacts of climate change. However, existing attempts at mapping climate justice are dominated by nation-state-based approaches, which fail to capture the sociospatial complexity of climate injustice. To address that gap, this thesis explores climate justice through the lens of critical cartography.

The Function Of The Hukou System In Post-Revolutionary China & Its Autonomous Regions, Joseph Kramer

Master's Theses

Over the course of more than two millennia the Hukou System has shifted in scope and purpose. In dynastic times it served as a mechanism of tax acquisition. In more recent years it has functioned as a method of census and land distribution. Today it holds a duplicitous function serving as both an economic and social control mechanism. The Hukou achieves this through controlling movement through a passport like system of internal registration. In simpler terms, think of the Hukou as an internal passport regulating movement while simultaneously holding all of your biometric data which is surveilled and controlled by …

Understanding Issues Of Exclusivity Surrounding Shared Mobility Devices In Harrisonburg, Virginia., Katherine E. Stankard

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This project aims to understand the factors associated with micromobility and shared mobility devices that contribute to inequitable access in local transportation systems. While there are many factors of inequity, I will focus on the intersection of policy and gender in a number of selected cities. The compendium of selected cities should serve as a guide to policymakers and communities that are seeking to add or regulate shared mobility devices into preexisting transportation networks. Through looking at various pilot programs and policy created by these cities, I will outline a number of recommended measures for Harrisonburg, and small cities more …

"Currency Is A Most Poisonous Tool": State Capitalism, Nonmarket Socialism, And The Elimination Of Money During The Cambodian Genocide, James A. Tyner

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Between 1975 and 1979, the Communist Party of Kampuchea sought to establish a non-monetary and non-market economy. In the process, however, upwards of 1.7 million men, women, and children perished. This paper provides a critical evaluation of the CPK’s decision to eliminate money in its attempt to transform Cambodia’s pre-revolutionary economy into a communist mode of production. First, I provide some general remarks on Marx, money, and markets; the purpose here is to establish a common foundation for readers, in order to properly assess Khmer Rouge monetary policies with those of orthodox reading of Marxism. Second, I position CPK macro-economic …

Canvas Totes And Plastic Bags: The Political Ecology Of Food Assistance Effectiveness At Farmers' Markets In The Twin Cities, Sophia Alhadeff

Geography Honors Projects

In June of 2019, the Trump Administration proposed a policy that could result in three million people losing access to food stamp benefits. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly food stamps, is a governmental food aid program designed to help low-income individuals and families combat food insecurity across the country. According to Minnesota Hunger Solutions, in 2017, 9.5% of Minnesota households were food insecure. In the Twin Cities, SNAP benefits have been accepted at a selection of farmers’ markets since 2003 in order to improve accessibility of fresh, local produce. This paper utilizes a mixed method approach, including qualitative …

When Nature Invades: Resident Perceptions Of The Austerity-Driven "Rewilding" Of An Urban Park In Rock Island, Illinois, Christian S. B. Elliott

Anthropology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

In an era of rapid urbanization, changing climate, and increasing political division, parks represent increasingly important places for urban residents to interact with and feel connected to the natural environment and receive a number of mental and physical health benefits. Unfortunately, in an age of austerity politics, parks and recreation departments in Midwest Rust Belt cities often lack adequate funding to maintain such public spaces. Recently, the business-minded Rock Island, Illinois Department of Parks and Recreation has implemented a creative cost-saving management solution: “naturalizing” sections of its city parks. This interdisciplinary study uses a mixed methods approach to discover how …

Refugee Housing In Worcester: A Neighborhood Case Study Of Bell Hill, Tyler Seth Maren

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper examines refugee resettlement practices at the neighborhood level, asking what neighborhood characteristics are conducive to achieving positive integration and housing stability outcomes. Using data from a quantitative study of refugee resettlement case files from Ascentria Care Alliance as a foundation, this research takes the form of an analysis of the Bell Hill neighborhood in Worcester, MA, a major resettlement destination. Using Ascentria data, secondary data sources such as US Census data and the Worcester Assessor’s Database, and site visits, this paper constructs a profile of Bell Hill along four major dimensions: community characteristics, housing, social infrastructure, and physical …

A View From Above: Alternative Perspectives On Smallholder Livelihoods And Agrobiodiversity Conservation In Northern Ecuador, Chris Hair

Dissertations

Food security and deintensification of agriculture are serious concerns in Latin America. Agriculture, especially at small-scale subsistence levels, is hard work, and comes with some economic and physical risk. Transitions from traditional multi-cropping to mono-cropping systems introduce two particular risks that are new to most smallholders: (1) the loss of agricultural diversity and (2) the potential for widespread failure when focusing on the cultivation of a single crop. This research explores how Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), or drones, can be used for rapid inventories of crop diversity and to enhance crop management techniques on small-scale farms. In the community …

Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Traffic Crashes Involving Pedestrians And Cyclists In Jefferson County, Kentucky., Joseph M. Garcia

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Walking and cycling are health-conscious, environmentally friendly modes of transportation, yet very few American trips are accomplished using these methods. A major factor behind this is the fear of being involved in a crash with an automobile. From 2009-2019 there were over 5,200 automobile crashes involving either pedestrians or cyclists in Louisville/ Jefferson County, Kentucky. Researchers have found that these kinds of crashes exhibit spatiotemporal patterns in different cities across the globe. The objective of this study was to determine if there exist any spatial and/or temporal patterns regarding these kinds of crashes. Data for this study came from the …