Publisher's Synopsis
This text explores different aspects of the spatial upheavals that lie behind the latest wave of globalization based on Western values. The first chapter introduces basic notions of distance and movement as well as the idea that accelerated change in such things as the rapidity of information flows and instantaneous communications is making the world smaller. Students are introduced to Harvey's "time-space" compression thesis, linking it to traditional geographical concerns about space in terms of how to cross it.;Subsequent chapters on global cities, "footloose" multinationals and global tourism consider for whom the world is shrinking and, in so doing, draw the attention to the uneven and unequal character of global processes. The multinational focus also introduces students to issues of production change and locational factors. In a similar way, the material on global cities raises the issue of agglomerations and economic interdependence. Transnational pollution provides an opportunity to engage with the scope and intensity of global relations and, at the same time, introduce issues of amenity, externalities and the tragedy of the common people of the globe.
