Development of Population Geography from Anthropogeography to Spatial-Analytical Approach

Main Article Content

Milena Spasovski
Danica Šantić

Abstract

Population geography is a subdiscipline of Human geography and studies the distribution, concentration and density of population over the terrestrial surface, as well as differences in population size, changes and characteristics, like structures, migrations, activity etc., among some places present compared to others. Population geography has had a prescientific stage as long as human history. First modern scientific treaty of population in geography was the F. Ratzels book Anthropogeography in 1882. During the first half of the XX century, French geographer Vidal de la Blanche gave a capital importance of population studies in his work Principles de Geographie Humaine. In interwar years, various aspects of population were studied. After the Second World War started the renovating movement of geography and new tendencies appear in human geography and, consequently in population geography. Attempts were made to define population geography as a separate sub-discipline. The worldwide trend of treating population geography as separate discipline was expressed by publishing monographs, bibliographies and textbooks. The most significant authors who worked on defining population geography were French geographers P. George (1951, 1959), Beaujen-Garnier (1965, 1966); North-american geographers: G. Trewarta (1953, 1969), W. Bunge (1962), J. Clance (1965, 1971), W. Zelinski (1966); in Great Britain: J.I. Clarke (1965); in USSR: Ю.Г. Саушкин i Д.Н. Aнучин (1950), В.В. Покшишевский (1966), Д.И. Валентeй (1973); in Poland V. Ormotski (1931), L. Kosinski (1967) A. Jagelski (1980). Those authors and their works had the significant influence on the development of population science in the world and also in Serbia.


Although the development of population geography was different in different countries and scientific research centers, we can clearly define four stages. First stage lasted until the 1960s and was characterised by works of G.Тrewarta, H. Doerres Ю.Г. Саушкин, Д.Н. Aнучин, J. Beaujeu-Gariner. G. Trewarta argued that the population is the point of reference from which all other elements are observed, and from which all derive significance and meaning. This view was adopted and shared by authors dealing with population items, explicitly or implicitly. Second stage lasted from 1960s till 1970s and the most significant authors dealing with population problems were W. Zelinsky, W. Bunge; H. Bobek, W. Hartke, K. Ruppert, F. Schaffer; Д. И. Валентeй, K. Korčak. This phase was characterized by the application of quantitative methods and efforts for understanding the spatial structure of the population. Many scientists see this development phase as a particularly prosperous period, because it carried more intensive relations of geography and demography through the introduction of statistical, mathematical and demographic methods and techniques in studies of population geography. Third phase lasted from 1970s to 1980s and was characterized by close relations between population geography and formal demography. Development and application of GIS and computer data have made population studies more complex and applicable in practice, through population policy and population projections. The most significant authors in this period were L. Kosinski, A. Jagelski, Hägerstrand. And at last, fourth stage started in the 1980s and in many countries lasts until present days. In population geography appeared new tendencies associated with the critique of positivism, the establishment of humanistic approaches and modifications of general geographic concepts. In this period, spatial analysis and quantitative scientific methods were reaffirmed, and because of that some population studies were redefined in spatial demography, a time dimension advocated in historical demography. In this context, we emphasize the work of D. Plane and P. Rogerson.


Population geography is viewed differently from one country to another. Its definition differs from too narrow to overly broad. But two research areas were of particular interest to geographers – population distribution and migration. Both items   acquired   an   international   dimension. Recently, eminent   population geographers exchanged various viewpoints in an attempt to provoke new thinking on subject and define the answers of new fields research in population geography. Population geography in the XXI Century is no longer a field comprised of spatial applications of fertility, mortality and migration only. Contemporary population geography is theoretically sophisticated, integrating spatial analysis, GIS and geo-referenced data. Future progress in the field of population geography will derive from more research at the intersections of population processes and societal issues and concerns. Major themes of future empirical research in population geography should be: global population growth, studies of migration, transnationalism, human security issues, population-health-environment nexus, human-environment sustainability, economic development and poverty issues.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Spasovski, M., & Šantić, D. (2013). Development of Population Geography from Anthropogeography to Spatial-Analytical Approach. Stanovnistvo, 51(2), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.2298/STNV1302001S
Section
Articles

References

ACKERMAN, E. (1959). Geography and Demography. In Hauser P., O. Duncan eds. (pp. 717-727), The Study of Population (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

BÄHR, J. (2010). Bevölkerungsgeographie. 5 Auflage. (Ulmer, UTB).

BÄHR, J., W. KULS (1986). Bevölkerungsgeographie. (Berlin: Walter de Guyter).

BUNGE, W. (1962). Theoretical Geography. First Edition. Lund Studies in Geography Series C: General and Mathematical Geography. (Lund, Sweden: Gleerup).

CONWAY, D. (2003). On Being Part of Population Geography’s Future: Population-Environment Relations and Inter-science Initiatives.

DAVIS K. (1951). The Population of India and Pakistan (Princetone: Princetone Univeristy Press).

DEMANGEON A. (1942). Problèmes de géographie humaine (Paris : Armand Colin), p. 408.

DORRIESA, H. (1940). “Siedlungs-und Bevolkerungsgeographie (1908-1938)”. Geographisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 45, pp. 3-380.

ĐURĐEV, B. (1995). Geografija stanovništva (Novi Sad: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Prirodno-matematički fakultet).

FAUS-PUJOL, M. C., A. HIGUERAS-ARNAL (2001). Population Geography, Geography, vol II, Encyclopedia of life support systems (EOLSS); www.eolss.net.

FINDLAY, A. (2004). “Population geographies for the 21st century”. Scottish Geographical Journal, Vol. 119, No. 3, pp. 177-190.

FRIGANOVIĆ, M. (1978). Demogeografija: stanovništvo sveta (Zagreb Školska knjiga).

GRAHAM, E. (2000). “What kind of theory for what kind of population geography?”. International Journal of Population Geography, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 257-272.

HAUSER P., O. DUNCAN (1959). The Study of Population: An Inventory and Appraisal (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

HUGO, G. (2006). “Population Geography”. Progress in Human Geography Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 513-523.

KIRK D. (1946). Europes population in the Interwar Years (Geneva: League of Nation).

KORČAK, J. (1963). Uvod do všeobecne geografie obyvatelstva (Praha: Statni pedagogicke nakladatelstvi).

KOSINSKI, L. (1967). Geografia ludnosci (Warszawa: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo,Naukowo).

LORIMER F. (1946). The Population of the Soviet Union: History and Prospects (Geneva: League of Nation).

MEADE, M. (1977). “Medical Geography as Human Ecology: The Dimension of Population Movement”. Geographical Review, Vol. 67, No. 4, pp. 379-393.

MOORE, W. (1945). Economic Demography of East and South Europe (Geneva: League of Nation).

NEJAŠMIĆ, I. (2005). Demogeografija: stanovništvo u prostornim odnosima i procesima (Zagreb: Školska knjiga).

NEWBOLD, K.B. (2007). Six Billion Plus. World Population in the Twenty-First Century. Second Edition (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers).

NOIN, D. (1991). Where is Population Geography Going? Paris, France: Commission on Population Geography, International Geographical Union.

NOTENSTEIN, F. et al (1944). Future population of Europe and Soviet Union (Geneva: League of Nation).

OPENSHAW S. (1984). The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem. (Norwich: Geo Books).

PACIONE, M. (1986). Population Geography: Progress and Prospects (Routledge, Revivals).

PLANE D., P. ROGERSON (1994). The Geographical Analysis of Population with Applications to Planning and Business (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc).

PLANE, D. (2003). The Post-Trewartha Boom: The Rise of Demographics and Applied Population Geography. AAG, 50 years after Trewarta.

POKSHISHEVSKII, V. V. (1970-1979). The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (The Gale Group, 2010).

RADOVANOVIĆ, M. (1967). “Geografska sredina i stanovništvo”. Stanovništvo, god. 5, br. 1, str. 21-40.

RADOVANOVIĆ, M. (1970). “Razvoj egzaktne geografije stanovništva u sklopu koncepta teorijske (matematičke) geografije”. Stanovništvo, god. 8, br. 1-2, str. 59-69.

SKELDON, R. (1997). Migration and Development: A Global Perspective (Essex).

SPASOVSKI M. (2005). Osvrt na međunarodnu raspravu o pravcima razvoja geografije stanovništva krajem XX veka, Zbornik radova sa skupa Srbija i savremeni procesi u Evropi i svetu, Beograd.

ŠANTIĆ D. (2013). Razmeštaj stanovništva Srbije u kontekstu teorija o populacionom optimumu. Doktorska disertacija, (Beograd: Geografski fakultet).

TAUBER I. (1958). The Population of Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

VRESK, M. (1997). Uvod u geografiju. (Zagreb: Školska knjiga).

WHITE, P., P. JACKSON, (1995). “(Re)theorizing population geography”. International Journal of Population Geography, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 111-123.

WITHERS S. (2010). Population Geography (Department of Geography, University of Washington).

WOODS, R. (1982). Population analysis in geography (UK, Longman Group Limited).

ZELINSKY, W. (1966). A Prologue to Population Geography (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall).

ПОКШИШЕВСКИЙ, В. В. (1966). География населения в СССР (Москва, Итоги Науки: Серииа Географииа, но. 10). www.popgeog.org