Economic Geography

The economic geography is the branch of the human Geography which studies the space distribution and the Localization of the economic activities. Economic modeling related to the economic geography is L economy geographical , or economy of the territories .

Role of the natural resources

The first key of the economic geography is the question of the natural resources:

  • the access to the Eau is paramount for the Agriculture as for the production of energy and for the Industrie
  • agriculture needs arable lands and of Pâture S
  • industry requires raw materials (metal ores, stone, silica, oil, wood, etc) and fossil energy
  • the Tourisme develops mainly where there is a tourist attraction, which it is natural (beach, mountain, climate, remarkable site, thermal spring) or human (inheritance, place of memory, place of pilgrimage)

Role of the population

The second key of the economic geography is that of the localization compared to the Population:

  • the economic activity needs Main-d'oeuvre, and for example a skilled labor is in the metropolises, the university towns, the technopolises, a working labor in industrial areas, a labor at a cheap rate in poor countries, a flexible labor in dictatorial States
  • the economic activity has need for Consommateur S, more in the areas urbanized areas, and with the Purchasing power higher in the developed countries
  • the economic activity causes harmful effects (accident risk, Pollution, noise), and the decision makers, economic like policies, can be thorough to move away these activities from the habitat, under the pressure of the citizens
  • With the development of the economy of the knowledge, the activities with strong Technologie tend to develop close to the sources of research and education (famous universities), cf the case of the Silicon Valley.

Role of the communications

The third key of the economic geography is the access to the transportation routes and transport, terrestrial, maritime or air.

Criteria of establishment according to the type of economy

In the system of market economy which dominates the current world, and which is based on profitability, the decision makers economic all these factors weigh to decide establishment of their places of production and marketing. And the geographical constraints are not the only ones with being taken into account:

  • the decisions of Délocalisation are explained by the search for lower costs of production, but it is the fall of the maritime transport costs and of the customs duties which on the other hand make possible the Mondialisation of the economy
  • , a company can choose not to delocalize to keep its customers, by preserving an image of national activity

In an economy directed like knew it old the Soviet Union, other criteria could intervene, in particular strategic (like besides the establishments of industries of armament everywhere in the world).

It is well-known, time is money : this principle explains the tendency to the concentration (metropolisation) of the human activities, and to the depopulation of outlying areas (the “deep campaigns” thus continue to lose inhabitants in France, whereas they are often only with less than 200 km of a big city).

Specialities of the economic geography

See too

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