The Process of Spatial Interaction - Research Paper Example

Spatial Interaction Spatial Interaction The Process of Spatial Interaction Even with increasing globalization and rapidpopulation growth, the Earth is still a large place where people are often forced to interact with individuals continents away via the elaborate system of transporting goods and services that humans have refined over the years. To account for the reality that people are spread throughout the globe, spatial interaction is a concept that has been developed to account for the flow of goods, services, people, and information to various places that need and require them. Basically, spatial interaction accounts for the movement of the aforementioned item via a complex system of localized supply and demand. Over the years, humans have become quite adept of getting the resources that they need to the places that they are required in the shortest amount of time possible. The process of spatial interaction also helps to explain why some areas of the world have a deficit in some areas of need, while others have a surplus. This can be seen in the case of most of West Africa not receive an equal distribution of food and vital resources to sustain its populace, while the countries of Western Europe seem to have more than enough (Anselin, 2008). If spatial interaction can be used to better examine how to more equally distribute these goods and services via a complex web of transportation networks, then the global population can perhaps become more balanced in terms of the ‘haves and have nots’. Spatial Interaction and Economic Growth Spatial interaction is directly related to economic growth. The distribution of goods and services is predicated on the economic model of supply and demand. There continues to be a wide gulf in terms of relative wealth between the respective regions of the world. In fact, much research is currently focused on better understanding the regional disparities that exist between one country and the next, and much of this focus in on spatial interaction. In considering this issues, it is helpful to discuss the long-run economic growth model present by Solow. This particular model discusses the gap in spatial interaction by looking at the variables of educational capital, health capital, migration, and certain spillovers in knowledge (Anselin, 2008). Where these variables converge or diverge deterring how countries and regions differ in terms of their ability to provide the populace with a steady flow of the goods that are required to sustain a balanced and normal life. There are various external factors related to investment in infrastructure and logistics that affect the economic growth in a particular region. The model presented by Romer suggests that, as humans accumulate more capital, positive growth will take place (Anselin, 2008). These models of spatial interaction, then, are predicated upon the existence of constant or increasing levels of return in relation to capital. They can, of course, diverge over time which is why we see some regions of the world floundering in a period of economic despair and uncertainty. Consider the country of Brazil as an example. Most studies relative to economic growth of this nation show growth regressions occurring based upon state produced data. These regressions have shown economic growth to be taking place over time based upon the accumulation of capital resources throughout the major cities of Brazil and its surrounding municipalities. As the mechanism by which goods and services from around the world can be provided to Brazil, and they can in return reciprocate that by flowing goods out of the country as well, economic growth has begun to expand rapidly in recent years. The Environment is Compromised There are certain environmental factors to consider when discussing how spatial interaction affects various regions of the world. There is a need, therefore, to examine growth patterns based on a spatial scale that takes into consideration four main components including municipalities, micro-regions, spatial clusters, and states. To consider how each of these impact change on a geographic scale, it is important to consider environmental variables that affect the distribution of resources around the globe. To illustrate this important concept, consider the image below. As arguably the large producer and consumer of goods and service in the world, the United States of America is well suited to demonstrate the principles of spatial interaction in detail. The image above is a flow map that illustrates graph partitioning and regionalization throughout various regions of the company (Anselin, 2008). This image enables scholars to analyze certain flow pattern throughout the country to determine access and transportation points as goods and services are moved from one location to another across any of a number of continuums. As certain parts of the country are sparsely populated, this flow diagram represents how such transport of resources often do not make it to certain parts of any given region. In addition, densely populated areas have many distribution networks and options available to them, evidenced on the diagram by multiple links coming from various directions. This flow diagram can be enhanced to cover the entire globe, as where environmental resources are scarce, the flow of goods will be scarce as well and the distribution of resources will not be balanced with the areas of the world that have more to offer interns of wealth and population. This can also be reflected by Reilly’s Law, which states that two cities will often attract trade from intermediate locations in direct proportion to the respective populations of the two cities in question (Ullman & Boyce, 2010) In addition, this same ability to attract trade will be inversely proportional to the aware of the distance of the two cities to the intermediate place, otherwise known as the law of retail gravitation. This, in essence, is the basis of spatial interaction and it explains how human civilization has long sense developed ways to move resources around the globe in an efficient and productive manner. Conclusion There are many components to spatial interaction that determine how the world moves goods and resources from one location to another. Consider, for example, the idea of spatial search, best defined as the process by which individuals analyze different location that they might move to based upon that locations ability to effectively provide them with the resources they deem important to daily life. This is can be reflected in the flow of refugees from one country to another based upon the perception that the former country is not able to meet the needs of the people, and moving to another country that is better served might be in the best interests of the person involved. Over time, this has created a humanitarian crisis in certain parts of the world where nations that once had enough resources to take care of its own people now finds itself in the unenviable position of lacking the basic necessities. This requires a redistribution and flow of resources from region to region, which simply often never takes place. This is the basis for the disparity in wealthy and mortality rate between the regions of the world. Finally, it should be pointed out that transferability is an important part of the spatial interaction process that cannot be overlooked. This refers to the relative ease, or difficult thereof, by which a good can be moved from one area to another. The more difficult this becomes, the greater the disparity in relative economic growth occurs (Ullman & Boyce, 2010). As human society continues to evolve, distance becomes less of a factor, but there has to be a desire amongst the nations to cooperate in order to facilitate this flow of goods. Once that occurs, then the flow diagram, as represented earlier, can begin to show more balance amongst the respective regions of the world. References Anselin, L. (2008). Properties of tests for spatial dependence in linear regression models. Geographical Analysis, 23, 112-131. Ullman, E. and Boyce, R. (2010). Geography as spatial interaction. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Read More