Chapter 4

Newton’s First Law of Migration:The Gravity Model

Places are connected through spatial interaction

ideas

information

money

products

people(p. 88)

Figure 4.1 (p. 89)

Migration

A permanent change in residence to outside one’s

community of origin.

Occurs at various spatial scales:

rural-to-urban

urban-to-urban

global (between countries)

Factors of Place Desirability

(p. 88)

Less-desirable places

More-desirable places

remittances

immigration = migration across an international border

refugees immigrate unwillingly due to persecution in their home country

(a PUSH factor)

PUSH factorsPULL factors

other

better job

pleasant physical setting

affordable housing

desirable climate

proximity to family

high housing costs

traffic gridlock

rising crime rates

high tax rates

poor climate

undesirable job

Migrant Selectivity

Figure 4.2 (p. 90)

Distance Decay

Figure 4.3 (p. 91)

Migration Streams

Figure 4.4 (p. 92)

Migration Streams&

Counterstreams

Figure 4.5 (p. 93)

Ten Largest Domestic Migration Streams of

Persons Born in Cuba

Ten Largest Domestic Migration Streams of

Persons Born in Mexico

Gravity Model

(p. 95)

Figure 4.6 (p. 95)

Migration to California

Mobility

• Part of American experience

• Mobility is high in developed countries with immigrant background

• Migration in the past as a predictor of future migration.

U.S. Mobility Rates

Figure 4.8 (p. 98)

Largest interstate migration streams

Figures 4.9 (p. 99)

Net migration rates by stateFigures 4.10 (p. 99)

• Regional and sub-regional shifts in population

• Net migration

• Migration patterns reflect:- location of states- historical patterns of movement- changing economic geography- perceptions about places

Name That Key Term

A person who is outside his or her country due to a well-founded fear of persecution and who is unable or unwilling to return.

Refugee

A permanent change in residence to outside one’s community of origin. Migration

A move across international borders.

Movements of ideas, information, money, products, and people between places. Spatial Interaction

Immigration

A well-defined migration channel from a specific origin to a particular destination. Migration Stream

Migration that runs opposite to a migration stream. Migration Counterstream

Reasons to move from a particular place. Push Factors

Reasons to move to a particular place. Pull Factors

The percentage gain or loss of population due to migration. It is calculated as in-

migrants minus out-migrants divided by the total population, all times 100.

Positive numbers indicate net gain; negative numbers indicate net loss.

Net Migration Rate

The tendency for certain types of people to migrate. Age, education, and other sociodemographic characteristics are

________ ________ factors.

Migration Selectivity

Money sent by immigrants from host country to home country. Remittances

A point on a scatter diagram that is roughly in line with the main trend but is separated from the main group of points

because of its very high or low value.

Extreme Value

A scatter of dots showing the relationship between two variables. Each dot on the

graph represents the x and y coordinates of a different observation or case.

Scatter Diagram

A model to predict spatial interaction, where size (population) is directly

related to interaction and distance is inversely related to interaction.

Gravity Model

The declining intensity of an activity with increasing distance from its point of origin. Distance Decay

The difference between an actual observed value of some variable and its predicted value using the gravity model.

Residuals

Point on a scatter diagram that lies far off the trend line. ________ on the graph correspond to cases that are poorly

predicted by the model. ________ are not to be confused with extreme values,

which may lie far from any other point but which are still close to the best-fitting line.

Outlier

Newton’s First Law of Migration:The Gravity Model

Chapter 4

Case Study

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Apply principles of spatial interaction to patterns of movement.

• Identify the major source areas for migration to your state.

• Use functions of a spreadsheet.

• Produce and interpret a scatter diagram.

• Discriminate between positive and negative residuals.

• Identify outliers on a scatter diagram.

• Think critically about models in human geography.

Activity 1: Predicting Migrationwith the Gravity Model

Online Activity

Activity 2: Scatter Diagram

Online Activity

Figure 4.11 (p. 105)

Figure 4.12 (p. 106)

Activity 3: Residual Map

Online Activity

Newton’s First Law of Migration:The Gravity Model

Chapter 4

Case Study

Canadian Examples

Online Activity

Activity 2: Scatter Diagram

Online Activity

Activity 3: Residual Map

Online Activity