Geographia Polonica (1985) vol. 51

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the features of what is becoming to be described as the 'new geography of Britain1. It is not long ago when researchers were able to make the following types of statement about the nation's spatial demography and economy:'generally speaking, the only places where an actual decline in population has taken place have been rural areas. Such areas may be extensive (but) none of these constitutes a region of its own, and the decline of such areas is matched by the expansion of urban areas elsewhere in the region' (McCrone, 1969).'

In the congested regions the primary problem is to plan the expansion in such a way as to make the best use of space, minimise the social and economic costs of congestion and preserve the amenity of the environment. This means that some urban concentrations must be prevented from further population growth and expansion must be diverted to other centres' (McCrone, 1969).

Not unnaturally urban and regional policies were formulated to counter such problems as then perceived. Now such statements are no longer admissible and many such policies no longer applicable. The structural changes, social as well as economic, which have affected British society in recent times have had spatial ramifications which have transformed the geography of the country. To be sure there have been some recent spatial policy initiatives intended to counter the emergent problems but it is clear that they are far from being consistent and well reasoned. Policy options will be considered further in the conclusion of the paper where it will be argued that their currently enacted poverty lies just as much in a lack of understanding of structural processes of change as in a lack of political will. The main part of the paper will however be concerned to detail trends in population, employment and unemployment in the British urban and regional system.

Nigel Spence, Department of Geography, London school of economies and political science. London, UK

Abstract

To think back twenty-five years — just one generation — in urban geography is to enter a quite other world. When I was in university in 1958, twenty-five years ago, we had no formal course in urban geography. In studying what now we would call urban topics, the texts that we could call on were few and far between and were predominantly descriptive, historical and evolutionary. I recall reading Griffith Taylor and the apocalyptic views of Lewis Mumford. Some of the ideas of central place theory were just beginning to seep into the British curriculum from America. Twenty five years on, what intellectual gymnastics the new urban geographers have been through. We have had a wealth of research and a welter of textbooks. Yet now it would be a brave man who could confidently define the scope of urban geography or resolve its numerous apparent aims and concerns. Many would even question whether it exists as a subject. It was as long ago as 1968 that Castells asked 'Y-a-t-il une sociologie urbaineV; he could as well have asked it of a geographie urbaine. More than the subject as a whole, urban geography has bent and twisted its way through a panoply of different emphases, of different philosophical starting points and of different goals. Has it, like the city itself, flourished briefly if dramatically as a kind of intellectual comet with a brief if brightly shining head and a tail that is long in its dying?

Brian T. Robson, Department of Geography, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

Abstract

Very early in the first post-war years a specific polarization of studies in settlement geography and in particular in urban geography has taken place. One, well pronounced approach was to study — on the basis of population and economic phenomena — the functional problems of settlement and urban development; and the other, much better rooted in traditional research, but much weaker in its intensity, was concerned with the morphology of settlement as expressed among others by types of land and building utilization and their distributions. This polarization may also be defined as the study of human contents and material forms of settlement.

The inspiration for both approaches came originally from the physical planning authorities and offices. The functional approach evolved out of the needs of planning at the national and regional levels for more definite and precise projections of future growth, short- and long-term tendencies in population changes in individual cities. The morphological one has been derived out of efforts to identify various zones of land utilization and to define building regulations in city planning. With most economic planning aiming at the rapid and forced industrialization of the whole country, the functional approach seemed and in fact was of the greater importance and in the period of the last thirty years of evolution reached an undoubted state of maturity with a large number of defined and developed basic concepts, some fully fledged theories, and subtle and complex analytical methods based and derived from detailed topical studies. On the other hand morphological research although never completely discarded has been unable to develop wider generalizations or truly theoretical ideas and views. In this paper therefore the whole presentation follows systematically the achievements and changes of the functional research with only incidental references to the more important of the morphological studies as they have occurred through time.

Kazimierz Dziewoński, Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa

Abstract

It may seem strange advocating the assessment of developments in social geography, when there is a general movement within the social sciences towards a more integrated, interdisciplinary approach. Indeed, in a recent historical view of the sub-discipline, the author suggested that such movement might possibly result in the demise of social geography (Eyles and Smith, 1978). It is, however, important to interpret such a comment correctly. The move towards greater social science integration is likely to lead to the demise of social geography as a separate entity. This does not mean that it will cease to exist. It will contribute to. become part of, and be constituted by the broader social science endeavours. Paradoxically, this may require a greater awareness of the role of social geography. Thus, even in multidisciplinary studies, social geography remains important for two reasons. In the field of human geography, it constantly and consistently focuses attention on people and their problems. It is possible to argue that human geography itself is artifactoriented, analysing the city, the factory or the clinic rather than the people whose actions and activities constitute such artifacts. In social science, social geography keeps the geographical dimension to the fore. All social actions have a geographical dimension which is more than a mere reflex of the social. Historically, most social theory has been almost totally aspatial. It is only recently that such theory has recognised the importance of the spatial (see Giddens. 1981). That dimension must not disappear from view again.

John Eyles, Department of Geography. Queen Mary College. University of London. London. UK

Abstract

Tlis paper seeks to answer the question of whether race-space inequality in living standirds has decreased or increased over the two decades 1960-1980, for a single city, "he city chosen is Atlanta, Georgia. While typical of metropolitan America in many respects, Atlanta has some special features which give it a particular interest and sgnificance as a case study of trends in inequality by race and residential space.

Atlanta is popularly viewed as a prosperous symbol of the economic vitality and civic enlightenment of the so-called 'new South', it has a black middle class going back three or more generations, and since 1973 it has had a black mayor. Conditions in Atlanta might therefore be considered especially conducive to black advancement, and to the reduction of inequality insofar as this is a product of racial discrimination. The fact that the period under review covers the change from white to black power in a formal political sense adds further interest.

David M. Smith, Department of Geography, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, London, United Kingdom

Grzegorz Węcławowicz [g.wecla@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Alina Muziol Węcławowicz, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Alina Potrykowska, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland

Piotr Korcelli [korcelli@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland

John Shutt, Department of Geography. Manchester University. Manchester. UK
Peter Lloyd, Department of Geography. Manchester University. Manchester. UK

F. E. Ian Hamilton, Department of Geography. London School of Economics and Political Science

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad overview of economic development in the Northern Region of England. The paper draws on a variety of studies of industrial location trends and relates these to the development of the region. In particular the paper examines the inter-action of general forces that have been shaping the British economy in the post-war period — such as industrial concentration, the shift to white collar workers and the pressure for industrial innovation — with the specific conditions in the North arising from its history of development. The paper attempts to synthesize quantitative studies of the location of economic activities with a more qualitative appreciation of local conditions.

John B. Goddard, Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies. The University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne. UK

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to analyse the factors determining the dimensions and spatial pattern of the relationships between the agricultural processing industry and the agricultural produce base. The analysis concerns three branches of the agricultural processing industry (the sugar, potato and spirit industries) and examines two main groups of problems: (a) the influence of the produce base (spatial availability, crop yields, and the sugar content of the beet crop) on the economic effectiveness of sugar refinery locations; (b) the influence of the system of land owner-ship and the organizational structure of agriculture, as well as competition for agricultural products, on raw material supplies to the agricultural processing industry.

Tadeusz Stryjakiewicz [tadek@amu.edu.pl], Adam Mickiewicz University. Poznań. Poland

Teofil Lijewski, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

A new trend is gaining momentum in socio-economic geography, namely a tendency to treat man as a subject of economic activity. In the analysis of economic phenomena the interest in social and human problems is increasing and a strong emphasis is being put on an approach concerned with human beings, their needs, attitudes, behaviour and motives of their activities (Eliot Hurst, 1974; Smith. 1977; Tôrnqvist, 1980; Cox and Golledge eds., 1981).

Though this 'behavioural approach' is quite popular in the west, Polish geographers have only recently begun to be aware of the need for its application (Eliot Hurst. 1978; Taylor. 1980; Kortus, 1981; Domański. 1982; Kukliński, 1982; Kortus and Domański, 1983).

Moreover, since the function of industry itself is now changing, the social and humanistic aspects of research cannot now be ignored by industrial geography.

Bronisław Kortus, Jagiellonian University, Cracow. Poland

Derek J. Spooner, Department of Geography. University of Hull. Hull. UK

John A. Dawson, Department of Geography. University of Wales. Lampeter. Dyfed. UK

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it presents a dynamic model of spatial organization formed by three mutualy interdependent subsystems: subsystem of cities, subsystem of agricultural areas, and subsystem of transportation. The model is then tested by means of a computer. Secondly, it formulates and tests a model optimizing spatial organization. For the time being it is simple because the problem of optimization of spatial organization is less examined. Its intention is to encourage discussion and further progress in the field of joint optimization of cities, agriculture, and transportation.

Ryszard Domański, Academy of Economics Poznań, Department of Spatial and Environmental Economics al. Niepodległości 10, 60-967 Poznań, Poland

Abstract

This paper is concerned with a common and apparently simple geographical question namely: 'how can we choose locations for a number of central facilites such .is clinics, public libraries, schools or recreation centres within a region so that the region's population as a whole enjoys the best possible access to the service?" This is usually called the 'central facility location problem' (CFLP). Subsidiary or related questions concern the optimal number of facilities and their size or capacity. The basic problem is therefore to optimize the spatial organisation of a service supplied in central facilities to which users or consumers must go or from which the service is delivered (as in the case of fire protection).

Robert L. Hodgart, Department of Geography. University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh. UK

Marek Potrykowski, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Stan Openshaw, Department of Geography. The University of Newcastle upon Tyne. UK

Andrew W. Gilg, Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

Konrad Dramowicz, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

In this paper, the historical development of the Katowice region is outlined. The scope of the paper is to evidence how the regional development involved the transition from a border region through a bare-joint region towards an integrated region.

Zbigniew Rykiel, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland