0 Lectures


Lecture I.

Metropolitan Functions of World Cities. Historical review.

1. Ancient Mykenes and their monopoly on bronze trade and production

  1. Republic of Venice and Rebublic of Genova - an examples of Medieval economic and financial powers built on the base of wide range of overseas trade. Main points of exchange between Europe and India and China.

  2. Development of production of imported goods substitutions like china, cotton, kashmir shawls, silk.

  3. Brugge, Antwerp, - the main financial centres of the world trade in XVI c., growing power of London and England (connection with Industrial Revolution trade with colonies).

  4. Actual the greatest World Cities - London, New York and Tokyo. Economic base of their power, connections with economy of the whole country and overseas trade.

  5. Factors of gobalization. The most important actual functions of the World Cities.

Books and articles:

H.H. McCarty, J.B. Lindberg, 1966, A preface to economic geography, Englewood Cliffs,

Prentice Hall

E. Jones, Metropolis, 1990,

P. Knox, J. Agnew, 1989, The Geography of the World-Economy,

Edward Arnold, London, New York, Melbourne, Auckland

S.Sassen

P. Hall

Lecture II

Theories of Location.

  1. H. Thünen and his circles; location of agriculure production

  2. A. Weber - his main observation and rules in industry location

  3. W. Christaller's central place theory based on services location and feed-back connections between towns and their outskirts.

  4. Economic base theory and functional structure of the cities, measurements methods

  5. Location factors of traditional industry

  6. Soft and hard location factors

W. Christaller, 1966, Central places in southern Germany, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall

E. Hoover, Location of economic activity,

W. Alonso, Location Theory [in:] L. Needleman (red.) Regional Analysis, Penguin Books,

London 1968

Lecture III

Geography of Industry

  1. Review of industry development

  • Changes in iron production - spatial shift to the coal mines regions

  • - development of transport systems - railways