For millions of gamers and students alike, city building games (CBGs) like SimCity and the more recent Cities: Skylines present a compelling initial introduction to the world of urban planning and development. As such, these games have great potential to shape players' understanding and expectations of real urban patterns and processes. In this…

This article investigated the pedagogical potential of the "SimCity" simulation game in an urban geography course. University students used "SimCity" to build their own cities and applied a wide range of theories to support their urban structures. Moreover, the students critically evaluated the logic and functioning of the…

By focusing on critical geographies, landscape, and spatial literacy, this article evaluates a semester-long spatial justice project conducted in a preservice teacher education program. The analysis recognizes the limitations of reading the products literally as a means of comprehending spatial representation. It expands the analysis by hacking…

"Perspectives on Urban Geography" constitutes a major part of the AP Human Geography course outline. In this article, urban core revitalization and rising suburban poverty are considered as two challenges facing cities in developed countries; and industrialization and the growth of megacities as two challenges facing cities in developing…

Current regionalizations of Africa have limitations in that they are attribute-based and regions are delineated according to national boundaries. Taking the world city network approach as starting point, it is possible to use relational data (i.e., information about the relationships between cities) rather than attribute data, and moreover, it…

This symposium explores and examines the challenges and opportunities of building community-university collaborations in marginalized urban areas. The selection of short essays highlights different experiences of building and sustaining community-university partnerships in a variety of cities as vehicles for enhancing experiential learning in…

This article argues that the integration of local history and geography through collaborative digital mapping can lead to greater interest in civic participation by early adolescent learners. In the study, twenty-nine middle school students were asked to research, represent, and discuss local urban sites of historical significance on an…

A constant struggle for teachers at all levels is finding ways to successfully teach students complex theories and concepts. Student comprehension is often enhanced by applying these theories and concepts to real world situations. This project demonstrates central place theory by examining highway billboard signs along major Wisconsin highways. In…

This article discusses a class project on residential segregation in Florida's metropolitan areas for which students analyzed trends regarding African Americans relative to white populations using data from 1980 to 2000. The project provided a means of teaching the importance of geographical perspectives to nongeography students in an…

Service-learning courses within a university setting help students to better understand their roles as members of civil society. This article examines the evolution of an urban stream cleanup project that has been part of a world regions geography course for six years. After connecting course goals with the current best practice literature on…

This article describes a design partnership that investigated how to integrate Google Earth, remotely sensed satellite and aerial imagery, with other instructional resources to investigate ground cover and land use in diverse middle school classrooms. Data analysis from the implementation study revealed that students acquired skills for…

Origins of performers, composers, publishers, and executives who have made significant contributions to country music since the late nineteenth century are examined. Most music is produced in a crescent from West Virginia to East Texas. (KC)

This paper describes a humanistic social geography course which emphasizes the exploration of the inner city area of Cincinnati, Ohio. Included is a description of the course's origins, goals, and methods. (JDH)

Three steps in urban land use analysis, fieldwork mapping, processing of data, and classification and delimitation of zones in an urban area, are described. An appendix presents a classification of buildings by function. (KM)