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To cite this article: James O. Wheeler (1993) CHARACTERISTICS AND RECENT TRENDS IN URBAN
GEOGRAPHY, Urban Geography, 14:1, 48-56, DOI: 10.2747/0272-3638.14.1.48
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RESEARCH NOTE
James 0. Wheeler
Department of Geography
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
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Abstract: This paper summarizes some major characteristics and trends in the field of
urban geography during the 1980sbased on its eponymousjournal, offers a brief overview of
earlier developments in urban geography, and attempts a comparison between earlier and
more recent trends and ideas in the field. During the 1980s, structuralistic and humanistic
approaches have gained somewhat over the dominant positivistic tradition. The United States
and Canada continue as the major regions of study. Use of quantitative analysis declined
during the 1980s. Urban geography has become more pluralistic and increasingly relies on
social theory concepts rather than on traditional location theory, such as central place theory.
The percentage of females contributing to research in the journal Urban Geography
increased notably during the last decade, and female authorship appears to be approximately
twice the AAG membership proportion for college and university teachers and for recipients
of the PbD. Overall, a focus on the social creation of urban space is becoming a more
accepted way of doing urban geography. These trends in Urban Geography reflect at least
equally the role of the three editors who (directly or indirectly) may infleunce what gets
submitted and what gets published.
This paper summarizes some major characteristics of the articles published in the
journal Urban Geography from 1980, when the journal was founded, through 199 1.
The paper then offers a brief outline of the evolution of the subdiscipline of urban
geography, drawing from diverse sources. Finally, urban geography in the 1980s, as
reflected in the journal, is compared and contrasted with earlier characteristics and
trends in the field.
48
Urban Geography, 1993,14, 1, pp. 48-56.
Copyright 0 1993 by V: H. Winston & Son, Inc. All rights reserved.
TRENDS IN URBAN GEOGRAPHY 49
1980-1983 69 90 5 6 3 4
1984-1987 67 88 5 7 4 5
1988- 1991 42 66 11 17 11 17
Total 178 82 21 10 18 8
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different conclusions. Some articles could not be classified into a single category,
especially distinguishing between the human-environment and spatial organization
themes. Not all articles could be classified into all of the selected categories, and thus
the totals among the categories differ slightly.
Five classifications were attempted: ( 1) paradigm analysis (positivism, struc-
turalism, and humanism) (see Johnston, 1983); (2) Pattisons four traditions in
geography (of which only two are relevant here) (Pattison, 1964); (3) a standard
world regional grouping; (4) a thematic breakdown; and (5) categories based on levels
of quantitative analysis. The paradigm classification was the most difficult to conduct
and probably would be the least agreed upon, as the terminology itself is subject to
varied interpretations. The simplest compilation was of course the regional one. No
article was interpreted to be in the classic area-studies tradition, i.e., a regional listing
or integration of the range of physical and human geography (Berry, 1964).
During these first 12 years, Urban Geography overwhelmingly published articles
within the positivist tradition (over 80%) (Table 1). Though much is written in the
literature on geographic thought and philosophy on structuralism-in its different
manifestations-only approximately 1 of 10 articles used a structuralist approach
during this period. Likewise, humanistic geography, a term coined by Tuan (1976),
comprises less than 10% of the Urban Geography articles. In the case of both
structuralism and humanism, however, there has been a modest increase in their
inclusion in the journal in the past few years, each representing approximately 17%of
the articles between 1988 and 1991, compared with 4 to 7% in earlier years.
The classification of articles in terms of Pattisons human-environment (man-land)
versus the spatial tradition has changed little during this 12-year period (Table 2).
Overall, 94% of the articles reflected characteristics of the spatial organization
approach. Some might argue that a minor increase in the human-environment
tradition has occurred since 1988, though the future will have to determine if there is
indeed any definite trend.
One interpretation of Table 3 is that Urban Geography has developed a more
international focus in that over 80%of the articles from 1980 to 1983 focused on the
United States and Canada, whereas just over 70% did so from 1988 to 199 1 . A closer
review of the data in Table 3 indicates, however, that some of the regional variation is
50 JAMES 0. WHEELER
TABLE2.-A CLASSIFIICATION
OF ARTICLESPUBLISHED
IN URBAN
GEOGRAPHY
BASEDON PATTISON'S
FOURTRADITIONS,
1980- 199l a
Human-environment Spatial
Years % %
1980-1983 4 5 71 95
1984-1987 3 4 68 96
1988- 1991 5 9 52 91
Total 12 6 191 94
Source: Compiled by the author from Urban Geography articles, 1980- I99 1.
TABLE3.-A IN URBAN
OF ARTICLESPUBLISHED
CLASSIFICATION GEOGRAPHY
BY MAJORWORLDREGIONS,1980-1991
I 1980-1983 I 1984-1987 I 1988-1991 I Total
Regions N % N % N % N %
Africa 0 0 1 I 6 I1 7 3
Asia 5 7 13 17 3 5 21 10
Australia 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 1
Canada 8 11 10 13 7 13 25 13
Eastern Europe 1 I 4 5 0 0 5 2
Latin America 0 0 3 4 1 2 4 2
Middle East 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
USSR 1 1 2 3 1 2 4 2
United States 50 70 37 47 32 58 119 58
Western Europe 5 7 8 10 5 9 18 9
Total 72 I00 78 I00 55 100 205 100
the result of special guest-edited issues devoted to selected areas of the globe. For
example, the special issue on South Africa (Vol. 9, November-December, 1988)
accounts for six of the seven articles published on Africa since 1980.
quaint and curious, even as it must have then to a discipline that had largely
abandoned environmental determinism in the early 1920s (Martin, 1985). Dickin-
sons (1948) statement was more contemporary for its time, but it focused heavily on
Western European cities and literature.
The first comprehensive attempt to inventory the field of urban geography, as well
as to offer prospects for its future, was by Mayer et al. (1954). Although this book
chapter in the classic James and Jones, American Geography: Inventory and Prospect,
was long on inventory and short on future prospects, it is astonishing to see how much
the 1960s paralleled the view of Mayer and others in the early 1950s (Taaffe, 1990).
No doubt a significant part of this continuity was the Mayer and Kohn (1959) Readings
in Urban Geography,the only text available until Murphys (1966), which also largely
followed Mayer and Kohn. As Taaffe (1990, p. 423) remarked, The Mayer-Kohn
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Given this brief sketch of the pre-1980 evolution of urban geography, let us turn to
comparing and contrasting urban geography in the 1980s (as revealed in the journal
of the same name) with earlier developments in the field. Five points of contrast
52 JAMES 0. WHEELER
between Urban Geography in the 1980s,especially the latter part of this period, and
earlier characteristics of the field are offered. I set these contrasts, however, within the
context of Taaffes (1990, p. 430) mainstream model, representing a loose-knit
consensus as to the ideas about cities that geography as a discipline wanted to convey
to the general public. Taaffe (1990, p. 424) traced the emergence of this mainstream
from the development of urban geography courses in the late 194Os, through the
publication of the Yeates (1990) textbook.
We begin with central place theory, the mainstay of urban geography during the
early 1960s.The discovery of Christaller (1933) and Li>sch(1939) set off a flurry of
research testing, which extended and modified the concepts of central place theory.
This leading research topic of the 1960s began to fade in popularity in the 1970s. In
the bibliography included in Kings (1984) survey of central place theory, 45
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TABLE4.-A CLASSIFICATION
OF ARTICLES
PUBLISHEDIN URBANGEOGRAPHY
BASEDON QUANTITATIVEUSAGE,1980- 199 1
I Years
Advanced 42 51 27 36 24 28 93 38
statisticsa
Descriptive 17 20 10 13 8 9 35 14
statisticsb
Nonquantitative 24 29 39 51 54 63 117 48
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analysisc
Total 83 100 76 100 86 100 245 100
TABLE
5.-A COMPARISON
OF ARTICLES
PUBLISHEDI N URBAN
GEOGRAPHY
BY GENDEROF AUTHOR,
1980-1991
Female 14 12 28 20 52 30 94 22
Male 99 88 112 80 120 70 33 1 78
TABLE6.-A THEMATIC
CLASSIFICATION
OF ARTICLES
PUBLISHED
IN
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URBANGEOGRAPHY,
1980-1991
Categories In percentage
general changes occurring in geography and help create these changes. As noted by
Goodchild and Janelle (1 988, p. 15), the subdiscipline of urban geography occupies
the most central position among the subfields of geography, as measured by cross-
memberships among AAG specialty groups. The journal appears to be especially
important as an outlet for female geographers, is increasingly pluralistic in outlook,
and is decreasingly dependent on the use of quantitative methods. While some notable
changes occurred in urban geography during the 1980s as to what may be seen as
relevant and timely, the purpose of the journal has not changed over the years: Urban
Geography welcomes article-length manuscripts that are relevant, timely, well
designed and executed, have broad significance, and demonstrate originality
(frontpiece).
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NOTES
Only one article could be construed to be in the earth science tradition: Gary M. Talarchek, The Urban
Forest of New Orleans: An Exploratory Analysis of Relationships, Urban Geography, Vol. 1 1 , Jan-
uary-February, 1990,65-86.
2Christaller(1933) is cited by both Kohn et al. (1954) and Mayer et al. (1954), though the latter misdates it
as 1935, but Lbsch (1939) is not cited.
3Currently,the Editorial Board of Urban Geography consists of 35% females.
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