The Development of Human Geography - Essay Example

? Human Geography Human geography is a discipline in the large field of Geography that is concerned with how geography relates andinfluences communities and cultures. It is also a branch of social sciences, which focuses on studying human activities. Human geography includes the study of cultures and its influences that particular culture. Cultural practices are studied in relation to the space in which they are distributed and how that space determines its development. The living standards of an area are also considered when studying human geography. The development of a certain geographical location in relation to people living there and the distribution of economic activities in that area are also considered. Human geography as a discipline includes various factors when carrying out a study on an area. These factors include historical characteristics of the area. History of a place can determine the type of houses that people build and the general layout of the town or city. The economic activities in a particular town are determinants in the human geography of a particular place because it is basis of what human geography studies. The economics of a place dictate the income generated by people of a particular town thus influencing the human geography of the area. The population size is factor that contributes to human geo of a place because there is always a difference between a densely populated and a sparsely populated region. Politics of a place can also be a determinant because, divisive politics causes conflict, which in human geo, is characterized by destruction and chaos. Settlement pattern in a given area depicts a lot about the human geo of a place. An organized settlement is resplendent of a working class population while the reverse could be said about job less population. This paper aims to highlight the human geography of a district in Peterborough city referred to by the name of Census Tract 11. According to secondary sources, this area has a high population of people with an average mean of age 42 years. Although this is the mean age, there is relatively high population of children between the years of 5 and 10, which is evidenced by large numbers of kids seen playing in Parkhill/Water on the south. The social space of the district is characteristic of efforts by the authority to satisfy the need for more playing space. This is done to complement the existing space with mobile playpens at supermarkets and any other available and unused space. The area also has a fair amount of student population that is characterized by cyber cafes and coffee shops. This shops and cafes have been installed with wireless access to the internet enabling the student population to handle their school while socializing. An ice rink is available in the area where the high schools in the area can hold their ice hockey games and recreational ice skating. The tract is mainly composed of middle class residents, which are illustrated, by the type of cars parked during the day in the driveways. The cars exhibit a relatively fair and standard of living of living with most of showing two car parking spaces. The student population and low-income earners, who live within the tract, mainly use the public transport system. Most of the houses in the tract are big houses meant to hold families comfortably. The houses look like they are mostly mortgage acquired homes because it does not look like their respective owners could have built them (Norton, 2010). According to secondary sources, I expected to see low-end houses where the residents are low-income earners who cannot afford the houses exhibited in other tracts in the city. The area has a couple of housing apartments that are mostly leased out to students or temporary residents. There was no sign of any semi permanent housing in the tract leave for the tents used by restaurants to extend their businesses to the pavements on the streets. There is evidence or recent development of row homes a characteristic of upsurge in real estate business in the area. Historically, this tract seems to have been dominated by single detached homes that belonged to the rich portion of the city’s population. Single family and row homes seem to be the favorable mode of housing in this area. The older portion of the population in this tract seems to be mostly composed of working class people. This limits the time they have for socializing. It seems that this part of the population mainly gets time to interact during the weekend because they were visible door signs on pubs indicating special events on weekends. There was a utility store that was advertising barbecue grills and recipes an indication that the practice of afternoon gatherings over roast food was a common engagement (Norton, 2010). According to human geography, Census Tract 11 main economic activity is based on commerce that is illustrated by shops specializing in all sorts of businesses especially on the Bellevue street on the north side of tract. Other economic activities are corporate finance that are evident from the presence of banks indicating a thriving finance based enterprise in the area. The primary data collected was able to highlight some facts that could not provided by secondary data. These include the attitude that people had towards certain policies and authority figures in the tract. This is evident by graffiti on the walls in the seedier parts of the tract. This was an indication of youth delinquency and resentment towards authority by a segment of the population there. Field observation is an essential skill and practice that should be considered by everyone in the discipline of human geography. This is because, it enables an individual to gather information about an area that cannot be obtained through conventional means like interviews and questionnaires. Conventional means of gathering data in the study of human geography can be influenced by bias from people with hidden motives and agendas. Field observation enables the observer to notice things like the effect of physical structures on the movement of people. Data gathered through observation is free from intentional bias. Reference Norton, William. (2010). Human Geography. London: Oxford University Press. Read More