Timespace convergence and the reduction in the friction of distance

Friction means slowing things down.

Friction of distance would therefore make places slower to
get to.

Quote: Areas that are closer together have greater
interaction, where those further apart have less interaction -
This is known as the Distance and Decay model.
if places are closer together, they must interact more.

1. Why might some places be slower to reach? Can you
think of any examples?

They are in more isolated places, and transportation there
is slower. There is no real connection between remote places and
big cities

2. Is this the case today?
Yes. Places like Papau New Guinea doesnt have strong
transportation connections

3. What has evolved and changed to be responsible for the
diagram above. How has this reduced space and time?
Developed transportation
Developed communication
Cyberspace

4. What transportation has been responsible for these changes?

Jet planes, Super big planes, faster planes (things that fly)
Larger of carrying capacity of planes. Fuel efficient planes.

Using the readings and notes for Ocean Travel complete the following task:

Resources: Readings and link

Have to be able to answer: Examine the relative changes in the capacity of ocean transport responsible for the
flow of goods, materials, and people.

1. Break Bulk Loading Containerization
2. Ports
3. Canals (ex: Panama Canal)
4. Costs are spread over a large area (modern container ships hold thousands of containers)
5. dimensions of containers became standardised

Task:
1. Produce a timeline of development of Ocean Transport
1803 - First steamboat (Charlotte Dundas)
1807 - First commercially successful steamboat (North River Steamboat)
20 Jun 1819 - First crossing of the Atlantic (SS Savannah)
1838 - First regular transatlantic steamship service (SS Great Western)
29 Jun 1900 - First traveling cruise ship (Prinzessin Victoria Luise)
1911 - First diesel engine, ocean-going ship (Selandia)
1 Jun 1929 - Containerization
Containerisation greatly increased the speed and reduced the cost of transporting products around the world.
1951 - First purpose - built container ships
1968 - The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) defined the dimensions of containers did they become
standardised.
Much easier for containers to be transferred between different ships as well as trains and lorries (trucks).
20 Nov 2010 - Largest cruise ship (MS Allure of the Seas)
31 Dec 2010 - Largest bulk carrier (MS Vale Brasil)
The largest container ships in the world are currently the Maersk Emma Class (seen right). The Maersk Emma Class
are capable of transporting over 15,000 containers.



2. Annotate your timeline with at least 5-10 points to show an advancement in ocean transport, at a given
point in time, has had an impact upon globalization (positive or negative).
3. Make sure you have covered the ideas of changes in the speed and capacity of ships





Page 152 study guide:- Read
Make notes on the advantages and disadvantages of Ocean transport Vs Air transport.

Extension and density of networks

Case study: Chinese Air Travel

Read 568 to 573
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_transport_in_China#Trends

Complete questions below:

1. With reference to fig 13.4 and 13.9 describe and account for the expansion of Chinas domestic civil
aviation network. Be sure to use the terms: NETWORK, NODE, HUB
2. Examine the changes in the network in terms of the extension of links and nodes and the intensity of use
at a national scale.

South East China: Hub
West/North: some nodes
Chinas aviation transport network has mirrored nations economic development
Although aviation came to China in the early 1900s, development of CAAC was slow due to low levels of
economic development
Slow progress during 1960s and 70s because of turmoil and various campaigns such as the Great Leap
Forward and Cultural Revolution
China predicted that air transportation passenger volume will increase by 11% over the next twenty years
CAAC is trying to nationalize airlines
break up of CAAC into regionally based airlines allowed further expansion of Chinas air network
Clear hubs are at Beijing, Shenzhen and nodes can be seen at Cheng Du (specific to Sichuan Airlines)
expansion of CAAC has required large investment in infrastructure such as runways and terminal buildings
Expansion in Chinas air network - Shenzhen to 5th busiest airport in China. Used to be a small fishing
village until 1980.
Places that are nodes for some airlines are hubs for another (China Southern airline has a lot of flights
going into Urumchi)

SYNTHESIS- Food miles comes up later in this unit under environmental issues linked to global interactions: BUT
we will take a look now- How does the increase global and national use of air travel increase food miles ?

Food miles is the distance food is transported from the time of its production. Food miles and with it, pollution,
increases substantially when we consider produce and goods imported from halfway around the world.

(Examine the concept of food miles and the environmental consequences of increasing volumes of airfreight)

Beijing Airport- has grown to the second biggest capacity in the world
New terminal 3- largest terminal in the world
Has increased from 15 million a year to 80 million a year, biggest in Asia
Causes- Increase wealth in China and relaxing in travel laws


1978 2007
Flights routes 162 1506
Planes 140 1134
Capacity 2.32 Mill 185 Mill


Extension and density of networks
Describe the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in civil society and the transmission and flow of
images, ideas, information and finance.
Examine the contrasting rates, levels and patterns of adoption of an element of ICT in two countries.

What is civil society? Use your glossaries and rewrite the definition in your own words

the term civil society to refer to the wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations that have a
presence in public life, expressing the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural,
political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer to a
wide of array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions,
indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and
foundations.

Basically stuff like Green Peace, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Smile (organizations that are not controlled by
the government)

http://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/Extension+and+density+of+networks




North America excluding Mexico the first to exceed 31% online
Re watch the start clip-- make notes on some important recallable stats for any essays you may write on the
changing nature of IT and its role in global interactions.
Did You Know Clip:
Radio took 38 years to reach and audience of 500 million people TV took 13 years, and the internet only
took 4 years
Top 10-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004
845 million users on Facebook monthly
Complete a PEA analysis for the map below:
The map below shows a change in the number of internet users from 2002 to the current day. There is an
increase from the number of internet users in the year 2002 to the number of internet users today. Areas with the
largest increase are located in India and China. In 2002, India had 7 million internet users but today it has 60
million. That is a 53 million change in the timespan of 12 years.


Page 573-577 and makes notes based on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in civil
society and the transmission and flow of images, ideas, information and finance. Give plenty of examples. (Think
Arab Spring and remittance payments)
Notes:
Internet came to exist in late 1970s
Today, virtually every country in the world has internet access, but in 1993, only 60 countries had access
Several media networks have taken advantage of technological improvements (newspapers, NY times,
etc.)
Half of worlds languages will disappear from 2000 to 2100 and be replaced by languages spread via the
internet
Hard copy newspapers expected to disappear and emergence of web subscriptions shows that
transmission of news and ideas is changing
North Korea censors information (limits what the public can have access to) = least globalized
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project means they want citizens to have access to information and help
globalization


Extra: Read the article How Mobile Technology is a Game Changer for Developing Africa
Why have mobile phones been introduced as an alternative to the internet?
Has this benefited developing Africa in any way?

ICT usage in the developed vs. developing world Iceland vs. India

Read the two BBC articles:
Iceland comes first in broadband ( a bit old, but ideas are sound)
With 243 million users by 2014, India to beat US in internet reach:
Focus annotate your articles to answer the following questions:
What is internet usage like in that part of the world?
Is it changing if so how?
What kind of issues arise in that part of the world?
What solutions are being suggested?

Annotate - Iceland comes first in broadband
Iceland has the highest concentration of broadband
Although it has the highest broadband, it does not have the highest users (US does with more than 49
million)
overall broadband subscriptions in OECD countries has increased from 136 million to 158 million in the 6
months to december 2005 basically more people are subscribing to broadband, meaning more users
The number of fibre subscribers in Japan now outnumbers the total of broadband users in 21 of the 30
OECD countries.

Annotate - India
Internet usage is increasing in this part of the world because of cheap and accessible mobile phones.
70% of rural India's active internet population access the web via mobile phones. Social media and
communication is also increasing the amount of people in India who are using internet.


Notes - reduction of the friction of distance. Reduce that friction, make it easier to get to that place.
Time-space convergence - Transport/Communication
Break bulk shipping/loading oldest system. Big chunk of cargo would arrive break it into smaller pieces and
load it to the ship. 8 days. 1940. Needed a lot of people, men. Eating into speed. Those guy lost their jobs in that
England case study.
Containerization
Hot-banana: Benefit from cumulative causation. Because of good business, good infrastructure, promotes
business,
Dependency theory - Caused countries to be dependent. Coffee beans from Ghana, Britain makes the profit.