Example of a geographical concept/theory paper topic To begin, you need to decide if you are focusing on a geographical concept/theory or a region/place. If you pick a geographical concept such as urban sprawl, you should pick a few cases to understand urban sprawl in different locations. For example, you can highlight why San Diego has many suburban, sprawling, car-centered areas compared to a place like Philadelphia, which has suburbs and sprawl but a much denser, walkable urban core. Then you could pick another location such as Seattle, which developed more recently, has high urban density, and less car-centered urban design, yet still has sprawling suburbs. Then maybe you could consider Phoenix, Arizona which exhibits the archetypal example of sprawl. This paper on urban sprawl would compare and contrast these cities to analyze why they sprawled, or sprawled relatively less. You would need to include cultural preferences such as individualism and private home ownership, as well as policies on land use and urban development that encourage separation between housing and commerce, but also the physical setting that enables or lends itself to a certain type of sprawl.
References
Please use a minimum of 3 academic resources, using AAG citation styleLinks to an external site.. You also need to cite 1-2 news media/NGO type sources, which often specialize in these issues. Use in text citations for facts or direct quotes. For example:
Harvey (2020) argues that uneven geographical development shapes the urban form.
The “production of nature” drives interest in national parks and nature preserves (Smith 1984).
And on the last page include a works cited page formatted like so:
Website
Format Author, A. ####. Online site or webpage title.
http://XXXXXX.XXX|https://XXXXXX.XXX (accessed Month Day, Year).
Example
United States Census Bureau. 2014. American housing survey: 2013 detailed tables. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2014/cb14-tps78.html (accessed October 21, 2014).
