ggr252 Course Outline - 2013
ggr252 Course Outline - 2013
ggr252 Course Outline - 2013
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
University of Toronto
COURSE OUTLINE Winter 2021
Course organisation
This is an online course delivered asynchronously. Weekly lectures will be posted and, in
conjunction with the textbook (which was written for the course), will form the key source of
course material. Recorded video guidelines for assignment completion will be made available
asynchronously. The instructor and teaching assistants will be available online regularly to
respond to questions. Tutorial sessions will be primarily used to provide guidance for
assignment completion. It is recommended that students have a computer with a microphone
and camera in order to participate in optional online activities.
Course outline
This course is primarily concerned with retail location: how to best reach consumers of goods
and services. Geography matters in many aspects of contemporary society. Here we consider
the importance of location in the success of both private and public sector organisations.
What is the geographical response of retail to the erosion of the middle market and expansion
of high and low income markets? How does the spatial restructuring of hospitals impact
access to medical care, particularly for populations at risk?
Drawing mainly from the location analysis tradition in geography, and using mainly retail
examples, we address contemporary real-world location problems. At the very least this
requires an understanding of the geographies of demand and supply. It also requires the
analysis of the changing demographics of demand and retail and public sector responses.
Several trade area and site selection techniques provide decision-support for the
contemporary location analytics industry. These decisions take place in a changing
economic, societal, and planning context. Online retailing, Geographical Information Systems
(GIS), social media and artificial intelligence (AI), add new opportunities in the enterprise of
exposing private and public facilities to target audiences.
Textbook
Stephen Swales (2020), GEOGRAPHY MATTERS: Location Analytics for Retail and Public
Services 2nd ed., Toronto: McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 9781260880700
Please note: This second edition was written for this course and is an important resource.
You must read the assigned chapters to fully understand the course material and prepare for
assignments, test and final assessment.
Requirements
A tutorial and test schedule will be posted online; due dates are clearly indicated on this
schedule. Tutorials will develop and discuss two assignments.
Textbook Reading: Chapter Eight: “The Fuller Picture of the Geography of Demand:
socio-economic status, expenditures, ethnicity and mobility”. Appendix Two:
“Selected Census Variables Captured from Statistics Canada’s Census Profile
Application”. Appendix Three: “Survey of Household Spending Data”
Textbook Reading: First part of Chapter Ten: “Retail Concentration, the Geography
of Consumption and an Online Future”.
Textbook Reading: Latter part of: Chapter Five (5.6, 5.7). Latter part of: Chapter Ten
(10.8): “Retail Concentration, the Geography of Consumption and an Online Future”.
Stephen Swales