the north american manufacturing core (chapter 5: part 2)
TRANSCRIPT
THE NORTH AMERICAN MANUFACTURING CORE
(CHAPTER 5: PART 2)
MANUFACTURINGCORE
INTRODUCTION
• Economic character of the Manufacturing Core's major cities:– (1) Atlantic coastal cities and their environs– (2) Cities of the interior core, located
between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes • Light industry is more dominant in the
former while heavy industry characterizes the latter.
• Today's lesson focuses on locational factors within the core and the economic character of a few of its major centers.
LIGHT INDUSTRY
• Manufacturing activities that use moderate amounts of partially processed materials
• Produce items of relatively high value per unit weight
LOCATIONAL FACTORS
• Break-in-Bulk Points– Transfer points along a transfer route– Mode of transportation or type of
carrier changes– Large shipments are reduced in size.
• Complementarity - exists at the regional scale when two regions, through an exchange of raw materials and finished products, can specifically satisfy each other's demands.
INDUSTRIAL AGGLOMERATION
•The clustering of manufacturing activities•Businesses and plants benefit from close proximity.•Share the costs of common operating requirements Advantages - Firms can share….
skilled labor pools communications systems utility and power sources transportation networks
Firms may even consume what each other produces.
Economical>>reduces initial construction costs and subsequent operating costs
INDUSTRIAL SITE FACTORS
• Raw materials • Labor • Transportation • Energy sources • Communications networks• An accessible market
INERTIA COSTS OF LOCATION
• Costs born by an activity because it remains located at its original site, even though the distributions of supply and demand have changed
• The costs which a firm must bear when it is no longer situated at the optimum location.
• Examples???
THE EMERGENCE OF CHICAGO
• An urban center which overcame unfavorable characteristics of its site and evolved to prominence based on its situation
• Site Disadvantages– Established on the swampy margins of Lake
Michigan, an ideal habitat for mosquitoes and other pests.
– Poor quality drinking-water– The Chicago River was too small to serve as
an effective transportation link– The city was almost completely destroyed
by fire in 1871
THE EMERGENCE OF CHICAGO
(continued)
•Situational Advantages– The city's location evolved as the
optimum transportation hub as goods were transferred between the Lake Region and the agricultural interior.
– The city became the regional rail hub of the western manufacturing core- benefiting from both manufacturing and agriculture.
ECONOMIC CHARACTER OF CORE CITIES
•New York
•Philadelphia
•Pittsburgh
•Cleveland Detroit
Chicago
•Buffalo Toronto Milwaukee
•Boston
NEW YORK
Major port cityImmigration pointOffice industries prevail
BankingPublishing houses Insurance companies
PHILADELPHIA
Major port cityFood processingShip buildingSteel and metal fabrication
Major inland portIron Steel Light industries Corporate headquarters
PITTSBURGH
CLEVELAND
Major portTransfer pointIron SteelRock & roll
DETROIT
Major port cityAutomotive industry Variety of supporting light industries
CHICAGO
Port cityTransport hubMeat-packing Furniture Clothing Steel
ECONOMIC CHARACTER OF CORE CITIES
•Generalizations concerning the economic character of other major cities of the manufacturing core.
•Boston - initially clothing and leather; since World War II, electronic components and machinery
Buffalo - formerly the continent's premier flour-milling center- more recently, chemical industries, aluminum
Toronto - a variety of light industries Milwaukee - brewing, steel, motor vehicles, food
processing
THE NORTH AMERICAN MANUFACTURING CORE
(CHAPTER 5: PART 2)