Public Policy, Geography of

Definition of Public Policy geography

Rather than as a subdiscipline of geography, such as biogeography, economic geography, or political geography, public policy geography is perhaps more appropriately regarded as an approach that crosscuts subdisciplinary boundaries to engage problem-oriented research in both human and physical geography. Public policy geography can be thought of as a spatial and environmental approach to interdisciplinary public policy analysis. The methodology of public policy analysis draws from [Page 2308]and integrates elements from many disciplines, including economics, geography, law, political science, and sociology, as well as agronomy, cartography, demography, ecology, international affairs, mathematics, military science, operations research, public health, remote sensing, and statistics. Public policy geography thus contributes to a wide interdisciplinary realm of investigation, but with special attention to the spatial and human-environmental aspects of public policy analysis.

It is pertinent to note that the etymological origins of the word policy show derivation from the Sanskrit pur, or “city,” and the Greek polis, or “city-state,” which evolved into the Latin politica, or “state,” and later into the Middle English word policie, which referred to the administration of the state or the conduct of public affairs. The modern words policy, politics, and police thus share related origins, all of which reflect the polity as that specialized sector of society whose rules, regulations, and laws can be imposed on all affected citizens, whether willingly or not. The Latin word populus, or “people,” evolved into the Middle English publique, for “all the people,” and later into public, meaning “relating to or affecting all the people.” and geography is derived from the Greek word geographia, or “Earth description.” So public policy geography links Earth description with politics and government activities as well as with the direct or indirect interests of all the people within a society or community.

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