Beyond Space (As We Knew It): Toward Temporally Integrated Geographies of Segregation, Health, and Accessibility

Abstract

Many fundamental notions in geographic and social science research still tend to be conceptualized largely in static spatial terms, ignoring how our understanding of the issues we study can be greatly enriched through the lenses of time and human mobility. This article revisits three such notions: racial segregation, environmental exposure, and accessibility. It argues for the need to expand our analytical focus from static residential spaces to other relevant places and times in people’s everyday lives. Mobility is an essential element of people’s spatiotemporal experiences, and these complex experiences cannot be fully understood by just looking at where people live. As many social scientists are interested in studying segregation, environmental exposure, and accessibility, geographers can contribute to advancing temporally integrated analysis of these issues through careful examination of people’s everyday experiences as their lives unfold in space and time (especially with respect to their daily space-time trajectories and activity spaces). Interdisciplinary research along this line may have a broad impact on many disciplines beyond geography.KeywordsGlobal Position SystemEnvironmental ExposureGlobal Position System DataResidential NeighborhoodHuman MobilityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.