The Dictionary of Human Geography

and management of human impacts on non-
humannature. In the mid-twentieth century,
ecological ‘managerialism’ underpinned the
expansion global policy ideas about issues
such as overgrazing,desertification, defor-
estation and the problem of ‘fragile environ-
ments’. Ecologists sought to apply the
‘lessons’ of their interdisciplinary science to
development; for example, inEcological prin-
ciples for economic development (Dasmann,
Milton and Freeman, 1973). The ecosystem
as a frame for understanding human impacts
on the biosphere was fundamental to the
environmental movementof the 1970s and
1980s (at that time, often called the ‘ecology
movement’) and to the expansion of
conservation.
The ecosystem concept has had a significant
impact ongeography, first in describing vege-
tation patterns on global (biome) or local
scales, and second as a framework for analys-
ing the interaction of societyand nature.
Organism and ecosystem were discussed by
David Stoddart (1967) in Chorley and
Haggett’sModels in geography, both for their
utility in explaining how the world worked and
also as indicators of the value of thesystems
approach andgeneral systems theoryas a
‘unifying methodology’ for geography.
Despite the explosion of interest by human
geographers in all aspects of the social con-
struction of nature, the ecosystem continues
to be central to natural scientific explanations
of processes and patterns in the living envir-
onment, and human interactions with them.
Moreover, recent ecological work on ecosys-
tem disturbance and resilience has maintained
interest in the ecosystem as a holistic frame
for understanding human impacts on non-
human nature. wma

ecumene A term used to mean ‘inhabited
world’ or ‘dwelling place’. It generally refers to
the historical process and cultural forms of
human settlement, and to those parts of the
Earth where people have made their perman-
ent home, and to the economic activities that
support that permanent occupation and use of
land. It derives from the Greek oecumene,
which referred specifically to the civilized
world as it was known to the ancient Greeks
(and, later, Romans) and centred on the
Mediterranean (see civilization). In some
historiographies ofgeography, ‘ecumene’ is
presented as the unifying concept and distinct-
ive concern of the discipline (James, 1972; see
alsogeography, history of). In practice, it
was in most active use by cultural geographers

in the nineteenth and early twentieth centur-

ies, along with the allied scholars in anthropol-

ogy and archaeology, who were then

concerned with the imperatives and distribu-

tion of human settlement (see cultural

geography).

Ecumenewas adopted as the title of a new

journal launched in 1991 that sought to show-

case the work of the ‘new cultural geography’

and the fields of study with which it was in

conversation. That this journal was re-launched

in 2005 under the more straightforward title

Cultural Geographyis perhaps indicative of a

declining intellectual purchase and resonance

of ‘ecumene’ at the start of the twenty-first

century. sw

Suggested reading

Ecumene; James (1972).

edge city An urban form in the USA, iden-

tified by Garreau (1991) and addressed by

others (e.g. Beauregard, 1995). An edge city

contains the industry, commerce and resi-

dences of traditional cities, but in less compact

form (seeexopolis;sprawl). Edge cities are

new (largely emerging post-1970) and contain

high levels of office and retail space. They have

also become generally perceived as places in

themselves, or ‘new downtowns’, on the edge

of urban areas (e.g. Tyson’s Corner, Virginia).

According to Garreau, these are not only ‘edge

cities’ because of their peripheral location,

but also because they are major centres of

innovation. em

Suggested reading

Garreau, 1991.

education Studies of the geography of

educationfocus on spatial variations in the

provision, take-up, quality of and outputs

from educational resources. Many of those

resourcesare provided in facilities at fixed

locations, so the provision of, for example,

play-centres for pre-school children may

involve differentialaccessibility, with impli-

cations forsocial justice. The majority of

facilities arepublic goodsin most countries,

so their spatial allocation is a political process,

as is public expenditure on education (cf.

positive discrimination).

Spatial variations in educational outputs are

related not only to the quality of the facilities

and institutions’ learning systems, but also

their social milieux. Students’ aspirations and

performance reflect not only their innate abil-

ities and home situations and the quality of

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ECUMENE