Geographical Bases of Economic Activities: Systematic and Spatial
The geography of economic activities deals with the location and organization of economic activities in space.
It is closely related to the organization of economic space.
The Primary sector forms the foundation. Primary sector of the economy extracts or harvests products from the Earth – such as raw materials and basic food products.
Activities under primary economic activity include:
Agriculture (both subsistence and commercial)
Mining
Forestry
Grazing
Hunting and gathering
Fishing
Quarrying
Key Concepts under Geographical Economic Activities
The following activities are studied under geographical economic activities:
The concept of economic landscapes
Economic landscape as a dynamic element (not static)
The existing economic landscape reflects the
resource structure,
economic processes, and
stage of economic development
Location and localization of economic activities
Spatial functional interaction
Regional economic development
The Concept of Economic Landscapes
The most basic concept in economic geography is that of the economic landscape.
The economic landscape is characterized by the distinct economic features of a region — in other words, the economic personality of the region.
The overall nature of various elements like commodities, equipment, and processes related to agriculture, industry, mining, trade, etc., appears in the economic landscape.
The regional economic structure of any area is reflected in this economic landscape.
The term economic landscape comes from the German word ‘Landschaft’.
According to German scholar Rudolf Wetgens, the ultimate goal of economic geography is to determine economic landscapes, and the practical aim is to achieve maximum efficiency in the human use of nature for economic purposes.
Scholar Otrama also saw interpretation of economic landscapes as the main goal of economic geography.
An economic landscape displays the physical structure of economic activities of a region or state.
Since most human activities are economic, economic landscapes dominate within cultural landscapes as well.
Various economic mechanisms operate within economic landscapes, with some having a dominant activity — for example:
Industrialized regions where industry and trade dominate
Agricultural regions where farming is the main activity
Economic Landscape is Not Static but Dynamic
The economic landscape is not static, it is a dynamic element that constantly changes and evolves.
On one hand, the economic landscape influences immediate economic functions; on the other hand, it is also influenced by them and changes with time.
The existing economic landscape usually reflects the accumulated economic work of humans in the past.
To understand and explain the present form of an economic landscape, it is necessary to study its systematic development.
This means examining the transformation process of the economic landscape over time.
The present landscape is never static — it merely presents a temporary picture at any given time, shaped by various interacting elements.
Remnants of the past are always present in the current economic landscape.
For example, in regions where subsistence economies once dominated, industrialization can bring radical changes to the economic landscape.
Scholars like Weber and others used this evolutionary approach to understand how various industries develop and how overall economic systems transform over time.
Existing Economic Landscape
The existing economic landscape reflects:
The structure of resources
Economic processes
The current stage of development
In some areas, when a new economic element or method is introduced, the existing economic landscape undergoes revival and transformation.
This revival can be driven by:
The arrival of new populations
The rise of new cultures
The invention of new technologies for resource utilization
Sometimes new technologies arrive gradually, and sometimes through revolutions.
Radical changes in socio-economic environments or institutions can also trigger transformations in the economic landscape.
For example, in countries like China and India, such transformations are currently taking place.
The economic landscape of any country can only be fully understood after comprehensive study of its evolving landscape and development processes.
Economic development is essentially the result of:
Human use of resources
The level of technical knowledge
The selective application of resources
The influence of human culture
Regional differences in technology and culture
In short, resource use combined with human knowledge explains both the process and pattern of economic development in any landscape.
Regional Economic Development
The concept of regional economic development reflects the practical aspect of economic geography.
As early as 1920, scholar Drayor described economic geography as a practical discipline.
The concept emphasizes:
Proper utilization of resources
Maximum production through regional economic integration
A key objective of economic geography is to explain why there is variation in the level of economic development between different regions.
To do this, it is necessary to:
Measure and analyze different aspects of development
Study progress in resource accessibility
Examine technical and cultural factors that shape development
According to Prof. Ullman, the core purpose of regional studies in economic geography is to:
Determine and explain the current level of economic development in different areas.
For regional economic development to occur, it is essential to:
Achieve balanced utilization of resources across regions
Foster regional functional interaction
Establish regional functional organizations that promote integration
As a result, regional planning for interconnected economic development has become a vital part of modern economic geography.
Systematic Activities
To analyze the internal elements of an economic landscape, another basic concept is needed — the status and placement of economic activities.
The economic landscape consists of many economic activities working together in space.
Therefore, understanding the position and placement of these activities is very important in economic geography.
Maps are essential tools for studying the location, spread, and status of various economic activities.
Geographers focus on analyzing:
The status of economic activities
The placement and distribution patterns
The general principles that can explain these patterns
For this, both regional and systematic approaches are used.
As new economic methods or activities emerge, they become more influential in certain areas — while older methods gradually disappear, though traces of them remain.
For example, the present characteristics of an agricultural or industrial region evolve over time through stages:
Beginning
Expansion
Development
Maturity
J.C. Weaver used the trilogy of Structure, Process, and Stage to explain the evolution of the economic landscape:
Structure refers to the characteristics of the resource base, including both natural and human resources.
The stage of economic development varies across different parts of the world — young, mature, and old stages are observed:
Youthful economic landscapes are found in regions like Brazil and parts of Africa, where resource use has only recently started on a large scale.
Mature economic landscapes exist in countries like the USA, Canada, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, where economic growth has reached advanced levels.
Older economic landscapes are seen in countries like Britain and some parts of Europe, where the history of resource use is long — but that does not mean these areas cannot still develop further.
In simple terms:
An economic landscape is a composite reflection of the various economic elements of a region.
Understanding the landscape requires a geographical synthesis of these elements — considering both the natural and human factors that shaped it.
This approach helps geographers grasp the true nature of an economic landscape.
Spatial Activities
Spatial functional interaction means the mutual relationships and interactions between different economic regions across the world.
This kind of interaction is essential for the development of economic regions.
In today’s world of large-scale specialization and production, every economic activity impacts — and is impacted by — other regions and global economic-political conditions.
No economic region today operates in isolation.
For example:
The inputs required for production in one region may come from a faraway region.
The products made in one region may be consumed in another distant region.
Thus, regional functional interaction forms the backbone of economic development.
These interactions occur both horizontally (between regions at the same level) and vertically (between regions at different levels of the economic hierarchy).
The regional organization of the economic system arises from these countless regional interactions.
Though these patterns of interaction may not always be visibly tangible, they are key geographical elements.
According to Edward L. Ullman:
The study of global and regional interactions is central to geographical research.
He described regional functional interaction as the interconnection of various economic units through a hierarchy of interactions.
As economic systems grow more complex, these functional hierarchies become more intricate.
An example to explain this:
An agricultural farm (a basic economic unit) connects with a local town that serves as a market and supply center.
A manufacturing industry (another economic unit) develops in a city, also connected to the agricultural region.
Though the farm and factory may not be directly linked, both interact with the urban center that coordinates supply, trade, and production.
This pattern of interaction repeats across multiple levels — from local to regional to national to global — connecting economic landscapes worldwide.
In early economies with little surplus production, fewer transportation and trading systems were needed, so interaction remained localized.
In contrast, industrial economies develop complex, world-spanning networks of interaction.
Territorial/Regional Economic Development
The concept of regional economic development reflects the practical side of economic geography.
As early as 1920, scholar Drayor described economic geography as having a practical purpose.
The idea emphasizes:
Proper use of resources
Maximizing production through regional economic integration
The key goal is to explain why different regions have different levels of economic development.
To do this, geographers must:
Measure and analyze various aspects of economic development
Study resource accessibility, scarcity, and progress in cultural-technical fields across regions
Prof. Ullman stated that regional research in economic geography should aim to:
Determine and explain the current level of development in a given region
Examine why some states or regions progress faster than others
For successful regional economic development:
Balanced and connected use of resources across regions is essential.
Regional functional interaction and regional functional organization must be strong.
Therefore, in modern economic geography, regional planning for interconnected economic development plays an extremely important role.
