Sustainable Geography

Preface xiii

Author Biography xix

PART 1. GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE PRODUCTION: SYSTEMS AND LAWS 1

Part 1. Introduction 3

Chapter 1. Geography: the Hard Core of a Social Science 5

1.1. The geographical question 5

1.2. Geographical space is produced 6

1.3. The reasons for the production of space 8

1.4. The organization of space 10

1.5. The logical field and the idea of a system in the production of space 13

1.6. The environment and the memories of the system 14

1.7. Geographical figures 16

1.8. Scientific practice 18

1.9. Conclusion 20

Chapter 2. The Geon and Energy of the System 23

2.1. Populations and working forces 26

2.2. Resources to actualize 28

2.3. Information as a source of negentropy 30

2.4. Production means and organization of space 33

2.5. The place of the capital and its distribution 35

2.6. The cybernetics of the system 38

2.7. Back to A 40

Chapter 3. Geographical Fields as the Environment of Places 43

3.1. Cardinal fields 44

3.2. Planetary fields 45

3.3. Cultural fields 46

3.4. The effects of exposure and attraction 47

3.5. Fields and geographical distributions 49

Chapter 4. Laws of Geographical Space Production 51

4.1. Geographic logic and the law of profit 52

4.2. Propositions of laws 53

4.3. Environment in systems 57

Chapter 5. Sense of Distance 59

5.1. Revelation of the distance 59

5.2. Distance measure 61

5.3. Ruptures of the distance 63

5.4. The represented distance: isolation and entrenchment 65

5.5. The distance and difference 67

5.6. End of distance? 70

PART 2. BROKEN SPACE 73

Part 2. Introduction 75

Chapter 6. Discontinuities and Thresholds 77

6.1. Discontinuity theory (1965) 77

6.2. Discontinuities and catastrophism 79

6.3. The region and discontinuity 84

6.4. Back to the discontinuity (1997) 86

6.5. Three examples of discontinuities in the geomorphological processes 89

Chapter 7. Territory Retrenchments 93

7.1. The pure and the wall 94

7.2. Retrenchments at the center 96

7.3. Separated peripheries 99

7.4. Folds and double folds 102

7.5. From retrenchment to res publica 104

Chapter 8. Antiworld and Alienation 107

8.1. Alienation 107

8.2. Antiworld 108

Chapter 9. Free Zones in the International Division of Labor 117

9.1. The territories of the antiworld 117

9.2. The complexity of the concept of international division of labor 119

9.3. The free zones: simplicity of speech, complexity of the roles 119

9.4. The golden belt 121

9.5. Territories without frankness, buccaneering territories 122

Chapter 10. Geography of the Gulag Archipelago 125

10.1. The sources of this survey 126

10.2. Geographical history 127

10.3. The organization of the archipelago 133

10.4. The modes of production 142

10.5. Conclusion 152

10.6. Appendix 153

Chapter 11. Geography of Migrations or the Antiworld in Spate 155

11.1. Waves and currents of emigration 156

11.2. Wanderings of insecurity, fracture of Mediterraneans 158

11.3. Migrations systems: nomadism or wandering 160

11.4. Conclusion 161

PART 3. MODELS AND CHOREMATICS 163

Part 3. Introduction 165

Chapter 12. Building Models for Spatial Analysis 167

12.1. From spatial organization to models 168

12.2. Choremes 172

12.3. The syntax of choremes or the linguistics of geography 183

Chapter 13. Model Maps and Choremes 191

13.1. Models and choremes 191

13.2. The rules of art 192

13.3. The procedure 194

13.4. “In Poland, i.e. nowhere” (A. Jarry) 195

13.5. The language of maps 198

13.6. Bibliography and References 199

Chapter 14. Models in Geography?A Sense to Research 201

14.1. What is a model? 202

14.2. Refutations 205

14.3. From theoretical practice to necessary hypotheses 208

14.4. Requirements of modeling 210

14.5. Conclusion 214

Chapter 15. Mediterranean Models 217

15.1. The lake 218

15.2. The focus 218

15.3. The straight 219

15.4. The isthmus 220

15.5. The crescents 221

15.6. The barrier 221

15.7. The chott 221

Chapter 16. The Aquitaine Region as a Corner 223

16.1. The southwest corner of France 223

16.2. Openings to seize 226

16.3. Dissymmetries of nature 229

16.4. Two urban systems 231

16.5. Regions and resources 234

Chapter 17. Structural Dynamic of the City of Tours (France) 239

17.1. Administrative center of a province on a Paris radius 241

17.2. The Val effect 243

17.3. The metropolization and the network star 244

17.4. Tours: social inequalities 248

Chapter 18. Analysis and Representation of Spatial Organizations: A Few Models 253

18.1. Openings 253

18.2. Color images 263

18.3. Other illustrations 263

PART 4. SCALES OF GLOBALIZATION AND MOVING EUROPE 267

Part 4. Introduction 269

Chapter 19. Ways, Forms, and Figures of Globalization 271

19.1. Economic globalization 272

19.2. The global village 273

19.3. Global ecology 275

19.4. How globalization changes the world 277

19.5. Re-differentiations and polycentrism 280

19.6. Contradictions and permanencies 282

19.7. Representations 283

Chapter 20. Aspects of Globalization: the Diamond Revolution 287

20.1. The De Beers empire: a heritage of British imperialism 287

20.2. After globalization by monopoly, polycentric globalization 291

20.3. Rupture and uncertainties at the turn of the millennium 296

Chapter 21. European Fields and Mainlines 299

21.1. The peninsula of the old continent 299

21.2. The European backbone 301

21.3. The Ring 302

21.4. The European trellis 304

21.5. Centralities, barriers and new found solidarities 306

21.6. Conclusions 308

21.7. Appendix: Blue Banana 308

Chapter 22. Transnational Urban Systems in Europe: Towards a New Modernity 311

22.1. Europe as a milieu 313

22.2. Can transnational city systems help Europe? 315

22.3. Conclusions 322

Chapter 23. Russia in Revolutions 325

PART 5. GEOGRAPHY INTO THE CITY PROSPECTS 333

Part. 5. Introduction 335

Chapter 24. Regaining Reason 337

24.1. El sueño de la razón 337

24.2. Unsustainable city 338

24.3. Territories in competition 339

24.4. Si les signes vous faschent 340

24.5. The marshland of Entelechies 341

24.6. Serio ludere 342

Chapter 25. What is Geography? 343

25.1. The field of geography 343

25.2. Geography as a science 345

25.3. Geographies 347

25.4. Geography as an established fact 351

25.5. Applied geography 353

Chapter 26. Geography in the Public Place 355

26.1. As an increased desire for geography 355

26.2. Five equations for fractions of society 356

26.3. Geography as Janus: two sides of the profession 358

26.4. Currents and patterns, or navigating without sinking 360

26.5. For socially useful works 362

26.6. Conclusion 364

Chapter 27. Geography and Human Rights 365

27.1. The difference 365

27.2. Resorting to nature 367

27.3. The revealing space 368

27.4. Conclusion 370

Chapter 28. Dimensions of Sustainable Development 371

28.1. The scale of sustainable development is global 372

28.2. Worldwide contradictions of sustainable development 374

28.3. Local scale: untenable “sustainable city” 378

28.4. The intermediate scales 380

28.5. Conclusions 382

Conclusion. Along the Way 383

Index 385