Applied Geography

Many public policy problems facing society today have geographic components or dimensions. For example, redrawing boundaries during political redistricting, locating a new public housing project, identifying a suitable site for a sanitary landfill, and mapping coastal area vulnerability to flooding all could be conceptualized as geographic problems. Applied geography focuses on the use of geospatial information and research techniques to build perspective and knowledge that can be used to identify, understand, and solve human and environmental problems from local to global scales. Another characteristic of applied geography is that it extends the scientific method often used in academic geography to include the implementation and evaluation of geospatial information in addressing problems of social relevance in nonacademic settings. This extension often requires applied geographers to work as part of an interdisciplinary team and to collaborate with a variety of public- and private-sector decision makers.

The problem-solving approach of applied geography is further illustrated using the example of finding the best location to build a new municipal fire station. Here the applied geographer would use geospatial information and research techniques to answer the following four interrelated questions. Where are the existing fire stations located? What has been the spatial pattern for the type, number, and frequency of emergency calls received from across the service area? How and where is land use change taking place in the city that could influence future demands for emergency services? What is the current and planned municipal infrastructure, including transportation networks and utility availability? Answers to these questions could be presented visually through a series of maps and supporting information, enabling city officials, fire department representatives, and the general public to view different scenarios as part of the decision-making process.

Applied geography has a long and rich tradition as a subdiscipline or specialty area within American human geography. Some of the earliest work can be traced back to the land surveys of the American West during the middle 1800s. The writings of John Wesley Powell on the arid West and the need to develop reliable water sources for agricultural development contributed much to the passage of the Reclamation Act of 1902, which ushered in the involvement of federal agencies such as the Bureau of Reclamation in developing western water resources.

During the 1920s, cultural geographer Carl Sauer played a leading role in the Michigan Land Economic Survey, which emphasized the need for improved land management planning to offset environmental degradation caused by soil erosion and deforestation. During the Great Depression and New Deal period, geographers such as Harlan Barrows and Gilbert White were involved with multiple-purpose resource management agencies such as the Public Works Administration and the National Resource Planning Board. The contributions of geography and geographers to logistics and transportation planning, military intelligence, area and regional studies, and cartography during World War II are well documented.

The practice of applied geography in the private sector, particularly in business and marketing, began in earnest during the 1930s with the work of William Applebaum in the retail food distribution industry. Since then, applied geographers have made contributions in market area analysis, retail site selection, and shopping center development for a number of companies, including J. C. Penney, Kroger, and Stop and Shop.

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