The investigation of the interactions between human and physical systems poses unique conceptual, methodological, and practical challenges. This book establishes a spatial science framework for policymakers, social scientists, and environmental researchers as they explore and analyze complex problems. The authors provide guidance for scientists, writers, and students across a broad range of fields on how to tackle discipline-specific issues of space, place, and scale as they propose and conduct research in the spatial sciences. This practical textbook and overview blends plenty of concrete examples of spatial research and case studies to familiarize readers with the research process, demystifying and illustrating how it is actually done. The appendix contains both completed and in-progress proposals for MA and PhD theses and dissertations, as well as successful research grants. By emphasizing research as a learning and experiential process, while providing students with the encouragement and skills needed for success in proposal writing, "Research Design and Proposal Writing in Spatial Science" can serve as a textbook for research-design or project-based courses at the upper-division undergraduate and graduate level.

This chapter has shown a small sample of GIS applications in economic devel- ment. GIS is a powerful tool for data analysis and presentation, and the economic development rami cations are truly signi cant. The speed at which data and stra- gies can be coordinated is clearly changing the way economic developers approach their job. There are a number of important trends that are likely to result in GIS becoming more pervasive in the economic development community. These include declining costs of GIS software, increased computing power, and the growth of Web-based GIS applications. There also has been increase in GIS skills among economic development professionals. References Bastian, L. (2002). Getting the best from the web. Area Development Site and Facility Planning, March 1-7. Accessed 5 September 2008. Batheldt, H. (2005). Geographies of production: growth regimes in spatial perspective (II) - kno- edge creation and growth in clusters. Progress in Human Geography, 29(2), 204-216. Bathelt,H.,Malmberg,A.,Maskell,P.(2004). Clustersandknowledge: localbuzz,globalpipelines and the process of knowledge creation. Progress in Human Geography, 28(1), 31-56. Bernthal, M., Regan, T. (2004). The economic impact of a NASCAR racetrack on a rural com- nity and region. Sports Marketing Quarterly, 13(1), 26-34. Blackwell, M., Cobb, S. Weinbert, D. (2002). The economic impact of educational institutions: Issues and methodology. Economic Development Quarterly, 16(1), 88-95. Blair, J. (1995). Local Economic Development, Analysis and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Enterprising World represents the culmination of several years of work by geographers, planners, and economists. The chapters included in this volume represent the collective efforts of the International Geographical Union's Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces. This collection is the result of the 2005 annual meeting in Toledo, Ohio (USA). The chapters have been selected based on their contribution to the broader community of economic geographers and policymakers and to demonstrate the inherent interconnectedness of these themes (and at times the conceptual tension that exists between ethics, economics, and the environment) insofar as these important issues shape the contours and cleavages of contemporary regional development.

This book expands the current frame of reference of remote sensing and geographic information specialists to include an array of socio-economic and related planning issues. Using remotely sensed data, the project explores the efficacy and policy implications of new approaches toward analyzing data, integrates approaches from human geography and explores the utility of employing geo-technologies to further the politics of local growth and smart growth coalitions, as in green space programs.

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in local food systems-among policy makers, planners, and public health professionals, as well as environmentalists, community developers, academics, farmers, and ordinary citizens. While most local food systems share common characteristics, the chapters in this book explore the unique challenges and opportunities of local food systems located within mature and/or declining industrial regions. Local food systems have the potential to provide residents with a supply of safe and nutritious food; such systems also have the potential to create much-needed employment opportunities. However, challenges are numerous and include developing local markets of a sufficient scale, adequately matching supply and demand, and meeting the environmental challenges of finding safe growing locations. Interrogating the scale, scope, and economic context of local food systems in aging industrialized cities, this book provides a foundation for the development of new sub-fields in economic, urban, and agricultural geographies that focus on local food systems. The book represents a first attempt to provide a systematic picture of the opportunities and challenges facing the development of local food systems in old industrial regions.

The complex interactions between human and physical systems confronting social scientists and policymakers pose unique conceptual, methodological, and practical complications when doing research . Graduate students in a broad range of related fields need to learn how to tackle the discipline-specific issues of space, place, and scale as they propose and perform research in the spatial sciences. This practical textbook and overview blends plenty of concrete examples of spatial research and case studies to familiarize readers with the research process as it demystifies and exemplifies how to really do it. The appendix contains both completed and in-progress proposals for MA and PhD theses and dissertations. Emphasizing research as a learning and experiential process while providing students with the encouragement and skills needed for success in proposal writing, "Research Design and Proposal Writing in Spatial Science" can serve as a textbook for graduate-level research-design courses, as well as for undergraduate-level project-based spatial science courses.
Keywords: proposal writing, grant writing, research, geography, spatial science
"

The complex interactions between human and physical systems confronting social scientists and policymakers pose unique conceptual, methodological, and practical complications when doing research . Graduate students in a broad range of related fields need to learn how to tackle the discipline-specific issues of space, place, and scale as they propose and perform research in the spatial sciences. This practical textbook and overview blends plenty of concrete examples of spatial research and case studies to familiarize readers with the research process as it demystifies and exemplifies how to really do it. The appendix contains both completed and in-progress proposals for MA and PhD theses and dissertations. Emphasizing research as a learning and experiential process while providing students with the encouragement and skills needed for success in proposal writing, "Research Design and Proposal Writing in Spatial Science" can serve as a textbook for graduate-level research-design courses, as well as for undergraduate-level project-based spatial science courses.
Keywords: proposal writing, grant writing, research, geography, spatial science
"

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in local food systems-among policy makers, planners, and public health professionals, as well as environmentalists, community developers, academics, farmers, and ordinary citizens. While most local food systems share common characteristics, the chapters in this book explore the unique challenges and opportunities of local food systems located within mature and/or declining industrial regions. Local food systems have the potential to provide residents with a supply of safe and nutritious food; such systems also have the potential to create much-needed employment opportunities. However, challenges are numerous and include developing local markets of a sufficient scale, adequately matching supply and demand, and meeting the environmental challenges of finding safe growing locations. Interrogating the scale, scope, and economic context of local food systems in aging industrialized cities, this book provides a foundation for the development of new sub-fields in economic, urban, and agricultural geographies that focus on local food systems. The book represents a first attempt to provide a systematic picture of the opportunities and challenges facing the development of local food systems in old industrial regions.

This book is the culmination of several years of work by geographers, planners, and economists. The chapters included in this volume represent the collective efforts of the International Geographical Union s Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces, at their 2005 annual meeting in Toledo, Ohio (USA). The papers were selected based on their contribution to the community of economic geographers and policymakers and to demonstrate the inherent interconnectedness of these themes.

This book expands the current frame of reference of remote sensing and geographic information specialists to include an array of socio-economic and related planning issues. Using remotely sensed data, the project explores the efficacy and policy implications of new approaches toward analyzing data, integrates approaches from human geography and explores the utility of employing geo-technologies to further the politics of local growth and smart growth coalitions, as in green space programs.