Geography Education
Istanbul’s Proposed Canal: Big Business and Sweeping Consequences

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The ambitious Canal Istanbul project could displace thousands of people, imperil the city’s tenuous water supply, and impact ocean life, critics say.

Seth Dixon’s insight:

Istanbul’s location on the Bosporus has been vital to the Byzantine and Ottoman Empire as well as the modern state of Turkey.  This is one of those crucial chokepoints of global commerce like the Straits of Malacca, and the demands on both of these natural waterways will soon exceed their capacity.  Thailand is working on the Thai canal to relieve the pressures on the Straits of Malacca (and enrich themselves in the process); Nicaragua is also seeking to create an alternative to the Panama Canal which is in the process of expanding their locks to accommodate the massive container ships.

Istanbul is likewise looking to find other ways the keep their locational advantage as the gateway to the Black Sea region and beyond.  Projects on this grand of a scale have tremendous real estate, trading, transportation and even tourism impacts. They can also bring negative impacts to the local water supply, wildlife, other environmental concerns.  The bigger the project, the bigger the environmental risks and the greater the economic rewards.

GeoEd Tags: transportation, globalization, industry, economic, environment, political ecology, Turkey.

Scoop.it Tags: transportation, globalization, industry, economic, environment, political ecology, Turkey.

Using the Streamer App

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Tutorial on how to use the National Atlas Streamer interactive mapping tool. This map allows you to explore the rivers, streams, and brooks of the United States. Trace these bodies of water upstream to their sources or downstream to their emptying points, and view a detailed report on the traces path.

Seth Dixon’s insight:

Streamer is the online mapping application that lets anyone explore downstream and upstream along America’s rivers and streams. Streamer can be used to follow the paths of rivers up to their headwaters and down to the sea, to view location-related information such as weather radar and near real-time streamflow data, and to discover hydrologic connections between distant places.

GeoEd TAGS: water, mapping, physical, fluvial, regions.

Scoop.it Tags: water, mapping, physical, fluvial, regions.

Chart of the World Economy

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“Latest estimates put the world economy at about $80 trillion in nominal GDP. Here is how each individual country stacks up in terms of size.”


Seth Dixon’s insight:

This chart is reminiscent of another chart depicting the global economy.  Like so many things floating out there on the interwebs, it's  good but not perfect.  Part of what we need to do as educators is to help them assess the validity of online resources.   

Questions to Ponder: What data was used to create this chart?  Any limitation to that data/data source?  Do you agree with the regional divisions in the color scheme and where the countries were slotted? What other information would help contextualize this information? 

GeoEd Tags: globalization, industry, economic, visualization.

Scoop.it Tags: globalization, industry, economic, visualization.

The Documentary Podcast, Balkan Border Wars - Serbia and Kosovo

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Old enemies Serbia and Kosovo discuss what for some is unthinkable - an ethnic land swap

Seth Dixon’s insight:

Land swaps are about fixing problematic borders–and we know that the world is full of problematic, contentious, and disputed borders.  Yet land swap are incredibly rare because it upends the status quo.  A few years back Belgium and Netherlands swapped some land, but more often then not, calls to simply give land to another country just because the land appears to be controlled by the ‘wrong’ country usually go unanswered.  This proposed swap is especially intriguing because (to an objective outside observer) it could benefit both countries and lead to a mutual recognition of their shared border.  Some argue that working this type of border/land-swap is not to different from the ethnic cleansing of yesteryear and won’t lead to greater peace and regional cooperation. This series of maps highlights the ethnic, political, and geographic ramifications. 

GeoEd Tags: borders, political, territoriality, unit 4 political, Serbia, Kosovo, Europe.

Scoop.it Tags: borders, political, territoriality, unit 4 political, Serbia, Kosovo, Europe.

The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse

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This study explores Chinese language policy and language use in Inner Asia, as well as the relation of language policy to the politics of Uyghur identity. Language is central to ethnic identity, and official language policies are often overlooked as critical factors in conflict over ethnic nationalism.

Seth Dixon’s insight:

A while back I wrote this blogpost for the National Geographic Education Blog about the Uyghur people of Eastern Turkestan.  The cultural policies of assimilation that are working to erase Eastern Turkestan and more fully make it Xinjiang are politically powerful, but the situation is more pressing that most people today realize. This academic article, The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse, is an excellent primer to the cultural and political complexities of this place with two names where East Asia and Central Asia meet. 

GeoEd Tags: political, conflict, governance, China, East Asia, religion, culture, Islam, landscape.

Scoop.it Tags: political, conflictgovernance, China, East Asia, religion, culture, Islam, landscape.

Shopping in Pyongyang, and Other Adventures in North Korean Capitalism

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“Far from the stereotype of total economic isolation, the black market has brought a surprising degree of modernity and consumerism — for some.”


Seth Dixon’s insight:

It is very difficult to get reliable data, journalism, or any other form of analysis out of North Korea.  For decades, North Korea has consistently been the country with the least freedom of the press in the world (as ranked by Reporters without Borders metrics).  In the 1990s, North Korea’s official, socialist-run economy failed to provide enough food for the population, and the informal, underground of markets (jangmadang) became increasingly prevalent.  This article is a rare glimpse into the shadow economy and the merchants that grease the economic wheels in one of the most authoritarian countries of the world.     

GeoEd Tags: North Korea, East Asia, economic, labor.

Scoop.it Tags: North KoreaEast Asia, economic, labor.

How Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars

“Modern cities are designed for cars. But the city of Barcelona is testing out an urban design trick that can give cities back to pedestrians.”


Seth Dixon’s insight:

Walkable cities improve the local economy and many cities are working to improve their walkability.  Cities can improve sidewalks, decrease parking lots, beautify storefronts and add other amenities that encourage walking. Neighborhoods that are very walkable often have a vibrant sense of place.  This article (and the embedded video) nicely explain many issues surrounding walkable urban environments.   

GeoEd Tags: urban, place, neighborhood, transportation, planning, urbanism, architecture.

Scoop.it Tags: urban, place, neighborhoodtransportationplanning, urbanism, architecture.

Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth
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“After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on the planet. But its benefits mask enormous dangers to the planet, to human health – and to culture itself. Our blue and green world is becoming greyer by the second. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world with up to 2.8bn tonnes.”

GeoEd Tags: industry, sustainability, consumption, climate change, environment, architecture, resources.

Scoop.it Tags: industry, sustainability, consumption, climate change, environment, resources.

Bir Tawil - the land that nobody wants

There’s a patch of land between Egypt and Sudan that no country owns. Why? Can anybody claim it for themselves? (No.)

Seth Dixon’s insight:

VIDEO SOURCE: If it’s new to you, the Map Men YouTube channel is very entertaining with fun, quirky, interesting trivia, but most importantly, these videos are rooted in geographic concepts.  The Map Men, as Chris Fitch wrote, “tap into a rich vein of geographical quirks to teach through comedy.”

VIDEO CONTENT: Both Sudan and Egypt claim the rightful border between their countries should include the Hala'ib Triangle on their side of the border.  This leaves Bir Tawil unclaimed and it pops up in the news when those hoping to create a micronation claim it.  This bizarre case exemplifies some important principles of political geography with a tangible example to test the limits of political sovereignty and what it take to be called a country.  If discussing the elements necessary to create a state, this article would help fuel a discussion, especially when some people are eager to create their own micronation.    

GeoEd Tags: mapping, fun, video, political, Sudan, Egypt.

Scoop.it Tags: mappingfun, video, political, Sudan, Egypt.

The demographic time bomb that could hit America
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“Japan’s demographic crisis provides some lessons for where America might be headed.”


Seth Dixon’s insight:

This op-ed looks at the demographic trends of Japan’s declining population and tries to see what this might mean for the United States. 

Questions to Ponder: What are the cultural and economic forces that lead to a declining population? What are some of the difficulties that confront countries with declining populations? 

GeoEd Tags: declining population, population, USA, Japan.

Scoop.it Tags: declining populations, population, USA, Japan.