Spatial Behavior: A Geographic Perspective

by Reginald G. Golledge PhD, Robert J. Stimson PhD

Overview

How do human beings negotiate the spaces in which they live, work, and play? How are firms and institutions, and their spatial behaviors, being affected by processes of economic and societal change? What decisions do they make about their natural and built environment, and how are these decisions acted out? Updating and expanding concepts of decision making and choice behavior on different geographic scales, this major revision of the authors' acclaimed Analytical Behavioral Geography presents theoretical foundations, extensive case studies, and empirical evidence of human behavior in a comprehensive range of physical, social, and economic settings. Generously illustrated with maps, diagrams, and tables, the volume also covers issues of gender, discusses traditionally excluded groups such as the physically and mentally challenged, and addresses the pressing needs of our growing elderly population.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572300507
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	12/27/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	620
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Reginald G. Golledge, Ph.D., is Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His interests include spatial cognition, the acquisition and use of spatial knowledge across the life-span, cognitive mapping, individual decision-making, household activity patterns, and gender issues in spatial cognition. Legally blind, some of his current research includes: comparison of spatial abilities of blind and sighted persons; development of a Personal Guidance System (PGS) for blind travelers; disposable tactual strip maps for blind travelers; evaluation of auditory/tactual information systems as travel planning aids; and travel needs of the non-driving disabled.

Robert J. Stimson, Ph.D., is Professor of Urban Studies at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He is also a Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and responsible for the operation of its Queensland office. Educated in geography at the University of New England and later taking his doctorate at the Flinders University of South Australia, Stimson is recognised as one of the leading urban researchers in Australia. He has published widely in social, economic and behavioral aspects of urban development in Australia, and more recently has worked on aspects of the internationalization of the Australian space economy and the growth of mega city regions in the Pacific Rim region. Stimson has longstanding multidisciplinary interests including the application of survey research methods in the investigation of spatial behaviour and the role of institutions in public policy and urban development and planning. His previous appointments include Dean of the Faculty of Management at the University of Canberra, Director of the Australian Institute of Urban Studies, and as a geographer in the School of Social Sciences at the Flinders University, South Australia, where he was also Director of the Centre for Applied Social and Survey Research.

Table of Contents

1. Society, Space, and Behavior
2. Decision-Making and Choice Behaviors
3. The Big Picture: Processes of Economic, Technological, and Social Change
4. Urban Patterns and Trends
5. Acquiring Spatial Knowledge
6. Perception, Attitudes, and Risk
7. Spatial Cognition, Cognitive Mapping, and Cognitive Maps
8. Activities in Time and Space
9. Activity Analysis in Travel and Transportation Modeling
10. Consumer Behavior and Retail Center Location
11. Place and Space
12. The Causes and Nature of Migration
13. Residential Mobility and Location Decisions
14. Geography and Special Populations
15. Gendering and the Elderly

Interviews

Professionals and students in human geography, urban planning, and cognitive and social psychology, along with readers in economics and environmental psychology. Serves as a primary text in courses on spatial behavior, or as supplementary reading in a range of courses in the fields above.

Editorial Reviews

"I used the text in an introductory social geography class. I just got the student evaluations and they are the highest I have had for the course. A lot of credit has to go to the book. Overall satisfaction with the text was high. The price is also right. In sum, it is a good book, well received, and I will use it again next semester." —Bill Dakan, University of Louisville

"Spatial Behavior is a valuable and useful source book and a 'must' for active researchers, teachers, practitioners, and policy makers. This thick volume combines a very comprehensive review of past scholarship with important new research on a host of theoretical, methodological, and applied topics, from perception, to consumer behavior, to gendering and the elderly. Especially helpful is the attention given to policy perspectives and to computer applications. Remarkably, the book is also eminently readable. Golledge and Stimson have made an enduring contribution." —Julian Wolpert, Ph.D., Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

"From globalization to cognitive maps, Spatial Behavior presents a comprehensive survey of the field. Golledge and Stimson begin the book by demanding that students think reflexively about how we create knowledge, and toward the end, in an innovative chapter on geography and 'the other,' they invite students to think critically about power relationships in our society. Thorough and up-to-date." —Susan Hanson, Ph.D., Clark University

"The well-designed volume is amply illustrated with close to 70 tables and 150 figures... Spatial Behavior offers real depth and breadth of content. A particular strength is the completeness of presentation of the themes addressed in each chapter....The authors integrate concepts, research design and data collection, methodology, results, and interpretations of empirical studies in their treatment of each theme. This approach gives readers—students and scholars—a valuable model of inquiry. Very reasonably priced, this book is a worthwhile text for anyone interested in human geography." —E. Cromley, Environment and Planning A

From the Publisher

"A clear and accessible writing style, accompanied by a powerful look at the contributions geographers can make to real-world situations. In addition, the book provides a useful reminder to all those who thought that behavioural approaches were dead, that they have evolved and still have a central role in geographic inquiry."

Environment and Planning

"The text is one I would recommend strongly to all those interested in spatial behavior from both a quantitative and nonquantitative background....Its breadth is quite remarkable....I would recommend its use to anyone interested in human geography and it would make a wonderful text from which to teach a course on behavioral geography at any level. At approximately 5 cents a page (paperback), this is a real bargain!"

Journal of Regional Science