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Tobler's First Law of Geography

Bibliographic Data

ID23715419
AuthorsNigel Waters (0000-0001-8812-8671, University of Calgary, corresponding author)
Year2017
Pages1-13
Publication date2017-03-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueInternational Encyclopedia of Geography (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg1011
OpenAlexW4244100231
ISBN9781118786352
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited17

Tobler's first law (TFL) of geography was introduced into the geographical literature in an article that Waldo Tobler published in the journal Economic Geography in 1970. In this article, which described a simulation of population growth in Detroit, Tobler stated that to make his model operational he would “invoke the first law of geography: everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” This entry considers whether TFL is an accurate description of the real world. Specifically, it considers the following questions: Is TFL really a law and, if so, is it the most important law in Geography? Do modern spatial interpolation techniques allow the model to be operationalized? How can “near” and “distant” be measured? Is it true for Euclidean and network space? Do classic models of human and urban geography conform to TFL?

Cultural geography · Economic geography · Epistemology · Geography · Human geography · Operationalization · Political science · Population · Sociology · Demography · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Law · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis · Spatial and Panel Data Analysis

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    Waldo Tobler•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • The Interactance Hypothesis and Boundaries in Canada

    Open Access•J Ross Mackay, Jenny Mackay•Canadian Geographies /…•1958

  • Unlawful Relations and Verbal Inflation

    Jonathan M Smith•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • A Paper Related to Everything but More Related to Local Things

    Trevor J Barnes•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • Tobler's First Law of Geography

    Daniel Z Sui•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • Doing Justice to the Law

    Jonathan D Phillips•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • The Validity and Usefulness of Laws in Geographic Information Science and Geography

    Michael F Goodchild•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • Tobler's First Law and Spatial Analysis

    Hubert J Miller, Harvey J Miller•Annals of the Association of…•2004

  • A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region

    W R Tobler, Waldo Tobler•Economic Geography•1970

  • Airline networks and the international diffusion of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars)

    Open Access•John T Bowen, Christian Laroe•Geographical Journal•2006

  • Is Statistix Inferens the Geographical Name for a Wild Goose

    Peter Gould•Economic Geography•1970

  • Some Factors Affecting the Spatial Distribution of Chicago Land Values, 1910-1960

    Maurice Yeates, Maurice H Yeates•Economic Geography•1965

  • Birds of a Feather

    Miller Mcpherson, L Smith-Lovin et al.•Annual Review of Sociology•2001

Unique citing works2
Citations per year0,25
Citation span2018 - 2023 (6)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2
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