Population Geography: Tools and Issues

by K. Bruce Newbold

Overview

This compact and accessible core text offers a comprehensive, issue-oriented introduction to population geography. Providing a set of functional tools and techniques for studying population geography, K. Bruce Newbold also explores real-world issues such as HIV/AIDS, international immigration, fertility, mortality, resource scarcity, and conflict.

Every chapter includes both methods and focus sections to provide a more in-depth discussion of the ideas and concepts presented in the text. Newbold highlights the geographical perspective-with its ability to provide powerful insights and bridge disparate issues-by emphasizing the role of space and place, location, regional differences, and diffusion. Arguing that an understanding of population is essential to prepare for the future, this cogent text will provide upper-division undergraduates with a thorough grasp of the fundamentals of the field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442265301
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/15/2017
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	366
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

K. Bruce Newbold is professor of geography at McMaster University. He is the author of Six Billion Plus: World Population in the Twenty-first Century.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

List of Figures and Tables xiii

Population Geography: An Introduction 1

What is Population Geography and Why Study It? 3

What Is the Geographical Perspective? 5

Current Research Themes and Contributions of Population Geographers 7

Overview of the Book 9

Focus: The Importance of Spatial Scale 9

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Tools of the Population Geographer 11

Chapter 1 World Population 15

A Brief History of World Population Growth 15

The Demographic Transition 18

Future Population Scenarios: Who Gains and Who Loses? 21

Conclusion 28

Foctts: Population Growth Regimes in India, Germany, and the United States 28

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Graphical Representation 31

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Population Estimates and Projections 35

Chapter 2 Population Data 41

What Is a Population? 42

Types of Data 43

Data Sources 44

Data Quality 48

Conclusion 50

Focus: Census Data and the ACS 50

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Working with Data 53

Chapter 3 Population Distribution and Composition 59

Population Distribution 59

Population Composition 61

Conclusion 69

Focus: The Changing Face of the US Population 69

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Life Tables 72

Chapter 4 Fertility 77

Fertility Patterns 77

Wiuit Determines Fertility? 79

Fertility Levels: Too High or Too Low? 84

Africa's Fertility Transition? 87

Women's Reproductive Health 89

Conclusion 90

Focus: Contrasting Fertility Rates and Choices in North America and Uganda 91

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Measuring Fertility 93

Chapter 5 Mortality 95

Mortality Transitions 96

Differences inMortality 98

Infecticms and Parasitic Diseases (IPDs) 103

HIV/AIDS 106

Conclusion: The Future of Mortality 116

Foctts: Mortality Differences-The United States, Mexico, and Zimbabwe 119

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Measuring Mortality 122

Chapter 6 Internal Migration 125

Defining Migration 126

Wizy Do People Migrate? 128

Tlieories of Internal Migration 130

Migrant Selectivity and Migrant Characteristics 137

The Migration Process 139

Conclusion 141

Focus: Contemporary Internal Population Movement in the United States 141

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Measuring Migration 145

Chapter 7 International Migration Flows: Immigrants and Transnational Migrants 147

Major International Flows 148

Theories of Immigration 149

The Impacts of Immigration 151

Immigration Policy 154

Transnational Migrants 168

Conclusion 168

Focus: The "Immigration Gap" 169

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Counting Immigrants, Illegal Immigrants, and Emigrants 170

Chapter 8 Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 173

Defining Refugees 173

Alternatives for Refugees: No Easy Way Home 176

Internally Displaced Persons 180

The Future of Refugees and IDPs 181

Conclusion 185

Focus: The United States: Welcoming Refugees? 185

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Counting Refugees and IDPs 190

Chapter 9 Urbanization 191

Defining Urban and Urbanization 192

A Brief History of Urbanization 192

The Growth of Modern Cities 195

Implications of Urban Growth 203

Conchision 203

Focus: Planning for Growth 204

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Defining "Urban" across Countries 207

Chapter 10 Population Policies 209

Immigration Policy 210

Internal Migration 212

Fertility Policies 213

Economic Policy as Population Policies 217

The Role of the International Community: Conflicting Messages 218

Conclusion 220

Foctts: Population Planning in Selected Regions 221

Methods, Measures, and Tools: Pass or Fail? Evaluating Population Policies 225

Chapter 11 Population Growth: Linking to Economic Development, Resource Scarcity, and Food Security 227

Thomas Malthus and "Essay on the Principle of Population" 228

Setting the Stage: The Debate and Current Perspectives 228

Linking to Economic Development, Resource Scarcity, and Food Security 232

Conclusion: The Potential for Conflict? 238

Focus; Resource Conflict 240

Methods, Measures, and Tools: What Have Geographers Contributed to the Debate? 244

Conclusion: Doing Population Geography 247

Marketing 248

Population Projections: Health Care, Education, and Transportation 249

Political Planning 251

Conclusion 251

Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms 253

Population Websites 259

Notes 267

Index 305

About the Author 309

Editorial Reviews

Brilliantly done. Bruce Newbold combines a comprehensive knowledge of population geography with insights gained from his own work to write a book that presents important population issues at multiple spatial scales in a way that encourages students to seriously engage the material. Just as important as the concepts are the series of exercises designed to teach students some of the methods of population geography and how they can be used to tackle vital issues. This text will save me countless hours of work while providing my students with one of the best introductions to the field. I can’t wait to start using it.

Matthew Shumway

Regardless of their research interests, most social scientists, geographers, and planners at some time in their careers must include population as a variable that must be addressed. For those with little or no formal training in demography. Newbold’s book, although a textbook, is an excellent handbook to consult.

Journal of Urban Affairs

Newbold skillfully presents important population research themes at different spatial scales in a way that is both clear and balanced. The Focus sections and the Methods, Measures, and Tools sections encourage students to engage with the material by reflecting on real-world issues and case studies in an in-depth manner. Full of expanded international examples and new figures, this updated edition will be an invaluable text for undergraduate students.

Carlos Teixeira

This fine book stands out amid the many texts available on the population question. Newbold takes us on a tour through the familiar landscape of population geography and, with great clarity, makes the subject more diverse, complex, and interesting, and thus more important.

Emily Skop

Globalization is changing the way in which populations are studied. Bruce Newbold's timely book teaches how geographic principles and techniques are used to measure and understand the changing nature of populations around the world. The chapters are cutting-edge, and the in-depth focus and methods and measures at the end of each chapter make this a very interesting and all-inclusive textbook for graduate and undergraduate students. It's also a great resource for cross-disciplinary researchers and professionals who want to understand and apply population geography in their work today.

Sue C. Grady

"An excellent primer on population geography: ideal for the classroom and accessible to even a novice lay audience. Virtually all challenges facing our world today have a demographic component, and Newbold’s book provides the conceptual, analytical, and topical foundation necessary for engaging with these issues. For instructors seeking a text that integrates theory and current demographic issues with research tools and methods, this book has it all.

Rachel Franklin