Schedule: M W F; __:__ _M; Room ___________

Texts:

Jones, K. and Simmons, J. 1990.
The Retail Environment. New York, NY: Routledge.

Harrington, J. W. and Warf, B. 1993.
Industrial location: principles, practice, and policy. New York, NY: Routledge.

This is the second of a three-course sequence in economic geography. It is intended to pick up where its prerequisite, Geog. 161. An Introduction to Economic Geography leaves off. The focus in this course is on activities involved in the distribution and manufacture of goods in commercial economies for which locational choices are critical decisions.

Discussion begins with review of the economic notion of demand, which is developed into a spatial model of venders' responses to consumer behavior. From that hypothetical, though rudimentary thinking, landscapes are derived containing centers of retail activity amid fields of consumers having varying consumption propensities tied to "demographic" characteristics. Later in the sequence of discussions centers are then assigned the role of collection, sites toward which dispersed producers bring surplus goods for sale into local and regional economies. The importance of distribution and collection infrastructures are developed extensively, with some attention given to the needs of service providers and how they are impacted by changing characteristics of landscapes. Notions of investment and disinvestment along fringes of expanding urban centers and in changing neighborhoods within cities are explored in this context. Additionally, the allocation of transportation responsibilities is developed in the context of competitive and noncompetitive situatons, as are roles and interests of intermediate distribution activities.

Next, ties between producers--or more precisely, between steps in manufacturing processes--are explored as a means for understanding patterns of industrial growth and/or decline along with varying formal and informal organizational structures among manufacturers, between them and their suppliers, and between them and their customers. Secondary and Tertiary operators and their activities are reviewed throughout the course with regard to three primary concerns: "What to produce or sell?", "Where to produce or sell it?", and "How intensively should production or sales activities be undertaken?" Closely related to the third question, of course, is the matter of "How, or by what means (using what technology), should production take place?", a concern of all goods producers. Implications of scale economies are noted at many points in the discussions, and the conflict that exists between them and transportation costs as regards the geography of production activities. Substantive discussions are wrapped up with consideration of impacts on locational and production decisions of regulatory and political environments as they vary from place to place--jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and of ties between goods production and distribution and human welfare.

The sequel to this course is Location and land use.

C. E. Tiedemann; Spring 1996
Location and Success/Complexity of Retail Centers
Source: C. E. Tiedemann; graphic by R. Brod, UIC Cartographic Laboratory

Course Outline:

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

A. Elements of Commercial Economies, Lecture

1. Structural Sectors; Consumers
2. Materials Flows, Other Ties
3. Flows of Information; Decisions

B. Geographies at Sector Levels, Lecture

1. Primary Activities--Dispersed
2. Secondary Activities--Concentrated
3. Tertiary Activities--Dispersed (More or Less)

C. Basic Questions Confronting Producers, Lecture

1. What, where, how and how much?
2. Why primary activities get short shrift in this course...
3. ...but are not totally ignored; the agricultural landscape

PART TWO: THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF DISTRIBUTION
(select six to eight topics)

D. The Geography of Demand, J&S 2

1. Demand Schedules; Demand on Landscapes
2. Sales on Landscapes; Franchise Geographies
3. Other Determinants of Consumption Propensities and Their Geographies

E. Retailers and Consumers, J&S 3, 4

1. Who are Retailers, and How Important are They?
2. Households' Purchasing Decisions
3. Retailers' Responses

F. Retailing and Landscapes, J&S 5, 6

1. Retailing and Settlement Patterns
2. Responses to Low, High and Changing Levels of Demand
3. Changing Infrastructures and Organizations

G. Landscapes and Retailers, J&S 7, 9

1. Retailing in Urban Environments; Hierarchical Structures
2. To Specialize or Generalize, That is THE Question
3. Suburbanization/Decentralization

H. Retailers' Location Decisions, J&S 9, 10

1. Recognizing Market Opportunities
2. Rules of Thumb
3. Computational Methods

I. Market Geographies and Planning for Retailing, J&S 11, 12

1. Trade-Area Analysis
2. Long-Term Locational Strategies
3. Important Externalities Affecting Retailers

J. Wholesaling Lecture

1. Intermediate Distribution in Organizational Contexts
2. Vertical Integration; Economies of Mass/Bulk Purchasing
3. Optimizing Inventory/Transportation Commitments

K. Producers' Sales, Purchases and Services, Lecture

1. Producers' Sales and Purchasing Activities
2. Effects of "Japanese Style" Inventory Management
3. The Provision of Services Needed by Manufacturers

L. The Geography of Collection, Lecture

1. Who Are Agricultural Commodities Collectors?
2. A Generalized Geography of Commodities Markets
3. Geographies of Agricultural Produce Collectors

M. An Alternative Model of Landscape Organization, Lecture

1. A Geographical Hierarchy of Functional Linkages
2. Hierarchical and Geographical Flows of Goods and Payments
3. Hierarchical and Geographical Flows of Information and Decisions

First exam (seventh or eight week)

A file of previously used questions will be made available about two weeks before the exam

PART THREE: THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF MANUFACTURING
(select five to seven topics)

N. Introduction to Industrial Location, H&W 1, 2

1. Manufacturing in Market Economies; Capitalism
2. The Role of Technology and Technological Advance
3. The Study of Industrial Location

O. Differentiating between Secondary and Other Activities, Lecture

1. Organization within Firms; Vertical Integration
2. Why Some Primary Producers Do Some Processing
3. Effects of Changing Technologies/Conditions

P. Site-Selection Factors, H&W 3, 4

1. Location Theory and Site Selection
2. Industrial Organization and Agglommeration Economies
3. Influences of Other Firms' Decisions

Q. Industrial Organization and Growth H&W 5 - 7

1. The Rise of Large Firms; The Geography of Corporate Growth
2. Influences of Spatial Organization; Transport-Rate Structures
3. Behavior of Foreign Transplants

R. Industries and Regions, H&W 8, 9

1. Temporal/Spatial Aspects of Industrial Evolution
2. Geographies of Product Life-Cycle Stages
3. Locational Advantage; Regional Growth

S. Industry and Public Policy H&W 10, 11

1. Trans-national and Global Production Shifts
2. Enhancements and Obstacles to Industrial Growth
3. Industrial Policies of Governments

T. Business Externalities Affecting Manufacturers, Lecture

1. New Arrangements with Suppliers/Service Providers
2. "Down-sizing," "Out-sourcing" and Logistics
3. Urbanization Economies

U. Industry, Urbanization and Human Welfare, H&W 12, 13

1. Manufacturing and Urbanization; Multiplier Effects
2. Urban Land-Use Controls/Patterns; Suburbanization
3. Socialist and Capitalist Industrialization

PART FOUR: USING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

V. Jobs in Economic Geography, Lecture

1. In the Private Sector: e.g. Corporate Site-Selection; Real Estate Development
2. In the Public Sector: e.g. Land-Use Planning; Governemental Development Agencies
3. Skill Expectations; Appropriate Educational Backgrounds

Second exam (at the secheduled final exam time)

A file of previously used questions will be made available about two weeks before the exam

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