GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Part of the economic success of a city can be an overriding cultural ethos of the metropolitan area.  This elusive spirit of the city is often referred to as a sense of place which many sound ‘fluffy’ to some, but can have some very tangible impacts on the urban economic development.  This article answers the question, “How does a sense of place impact urban economic development?” by using various U.S. cities such as New York City, Portland and San Francisco.  

Tags: urban, economic, place, neighborhood.

In this article from the Atlantic, Derek Thompson says that Houston combines some great advantages (1-stength in energy resources and 2-proximity to Latin America) to be the U.S. metropolitan region that has grown the most since the recession.

Tags: urban, economic.

This series of maps shows the cultural and legal differences around the world that impact access to abortion and birth control.

In this interview with Rosemary Wardley (senior GIS cartographer at National Geographic Maps) she offers tips on how to evaluate the landscape to do well on the game, GeoGuessr.  If you haven’t played GeoGuessr, you’ve got to try it out.  It displays 5 locations in GoogleMaps StreetView and you have to guess where the images are located.  You can pan and zoom in the StreetView to explore the landscape and find more context clues as to where that location is.  It’s a fantastic exploration exercise.   

Tags: landscape, place, trivia.

Chicago’s poorer neighborhoods have experienced a severe decline as homes are being foreclosed at an alarming rate (62,000 vacant properties in Chicago and 40% of the homes underwater on the South and West Sides).  When sections of a neighborhood are left vacant or in disrepair, it can have a lead to negative impacts on the community.  To combat both the homelessness issue and the vacant home problem at the same time, “Cook County now plans to form what will become the nation’s largest land bank, an entity that will acquire thousands of vacant residences, demolishing some, turning others into much-needed rentals and holding onto others until they can be released, strategically, back into the market.”   

Tags: Chicago, housing, urban, economic, poverty, place, socioeconomic, neighborhood.

Megacities are growing, especially in the developing world.  This rapid population growth leads to serious strains on many resources and the infrastructural capacities which leads to some dismal living conditions among the urban poor.  World Vision Australia works to assist and empower many of those without access to these important amenities.  Download the lesson as a PDF here.

Tags: Indonesia, urban, megacities, sustainability, development.