Spatial Interaction in Savannah
Spatial interaction is a tool that helps understand the spatial outreach of a city or a place. The city boundaries do not define the functional activities in and around cities. As different diurnal activities take place within a city and between areas surrounding it, the actual dominance of the city increases and creates the idea of an interacting metropolitan region. However, it is quite difficult to track a city’s actual realm of dominance, spatial interaction gives a quantitative and theoretical approach by which “metropolitan dominance” could be measured. The science of spatial interaction specifically relies on two basic elements that explain a city’s relationship with its region. The first key factor is communication. It is often interpreted as the tool by which people in the region interacts with each other. Transportation and other communication tools like telephone, mobile phone or newspaper are crucial to track the expansion of a city into its suburbs. Another deciding factor of spatial interaction is the existence of whole sale and retail trade areas. These areas act as market places and play an important role in the region’s economy. Interaction between two places explain the physical and fiscal relation of the places and helps understand the physical expanse of a city’s dominance. Essentially spatial interaction has a crucial role shaping the growth of cities and influencing their physical character. As the demographics and spatial growth of a city as well as of a metropolis become the creature of spatial interaction, understanding and analyzing this concept could help solving urban issues and improve the regions overall health.
Savannah, being one of the major cities of its age and having a strong colonial influence, has an interesting pattern of spatial interaction that has been, to some extent, intentionally implied at the time of its inception. Savannah was founded to be a British Colonial outpost and to serve as a hub of cotton production and a sea port. In its early days Savannah was laid out in a fashion that would serve this purpose. The main city as can be seen today is situated by the banks of River Savannah. It has its port area at the East that connects the region to the other ports along the nation’s Eastern coast line and to countries Far East. The agricultural lands for the purpose of cotton farming was laid out towards the west side of the city where sufficient amount of land is available. These two things act as the key factors for the social interaction of the city of Savannah. The city’s relation with the region in terms of retail and trade is based on the cotton economy of early days and the existence of the port. The main settlement is created in a compact area near the port, which acts as the focus of the physical development of Savannah. Radiating transportation networks running out of the city center acts as the communicating exchange tool that ensures the spatial interaction of the city with the neighboring region. Analyzing the social physics of this network, one can identify two key indicators that influence and shape the physical development pattern of the city and its metropolitan region. Trade networks and Transportation exchange are the indicators that shape the interactive development of the city.
Savannah, being one of the major cities of its age and having a strong colonial influence, has an interesting pattern of spatial interaction that has been, to some extent, intentionally implied at the time of its inception. Savannah was founded to be a British Colonial outpost and to serve as a hub of cotton production and a sea port. In its early days Savannah was laid out in a fashion that would serve this purpose. The main city as can be seen today is situated by the banks of River Savannah. It has its port area at the East that connects the region to the other ports along the nation’s Eastern coast line and to countries Far East. The agricultural lands for the purpose of cotton farming was laid out towards the west side of the city where sufficient amount of land is available. These two things act as the key factors for the social interaction of the city of Savannah. The city’s relation with the region in terms of retail and trade is based on the cotton economy of early days and the existence of the port. The main settlement is created in a compact area near the port, which acts as the focus of the physical development of Savannah. Radiating transportation networks running out of the city center acts as the communicating exchange tool that ensures the spatial interaction of the city with the neighboring region. Analyzing the social physics of this network, one can identify two key indicators that influence and shape the physical development pattern of the city and its metropolitan region. Trade networks and Transportation exchange are the indicators that shape the interactive development of the city.
Analysis 1: Trade Outreach:
Starting from its Colonial history, Savannah was established as a center of Cotton Industry. It was intended to serve as a monopoly industry in the south-western and mid-western region of the United States as well as in the European countries. Today, however, the cotton industry has been overtaken by large manufacturing companies that establish modern Savannah’s economic platform. Manufacturing is the largest part of the economy comprising of large plants like Gulfstream Aerospace, makers of executive jet aircraft, paper product industries like International paper, Georgia Pacific Savannah River Site, Great Dane Trailers and Derst Baking Company. It also houses the headquarters of big companies like TitleMax and Morris Multimedia. The industries thrive around the facility of the port that not only increases the scope of spatial interaction of trade and commerce within the city but also around the region.
Savannah port is one of its major strengths and features. It is one of its oldest assets and till date counts as one of the largest container ports of the country. The port feeds a number of private and public warehouses in its vicinity playing an important role in the city’s economy. It attracts business around the region and feeds various types of trade and commerce. The Savannah Metropolitan region demands a huge number of trade traffic in a daily basis. The region continues to grow in manufacturing and industry including increasing numbers of businesses and services. The city accommodates this growth by continually improving the port’s state of the art facilities and volume of everyday trade traffic. As the city successfully fulfills the need of the region’s demand, spatial interaction keeps increasing. This results in the influx of a huge number of people and business into the region. Currently the region’s expanse has breached the County as well as State boundaries. It draws business from Counties like Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama and West Virginia.
The Savannah airport also serves as a major indicator helping the region grow as a whole in international trading. Along with its port, the airport also serves a wide range of region uniting and merging areas across the state borders. A concentration of facilities and opportunities can be found around Savannah’s port and airport. The city plays an important role in the region’s economy that increases the interaction and communication of the surrounding communities to the city. As jobs concentrates in the heart of Savannah, the suburban neighborhoods of Savannah observes a daily commute of people and businesses going to and from the city center.
Savannah port is one of its major strengths and features. It is one of its oldest assets and till date counts as one of the largest container ports of the country. The port feeds a number of private and public warehouses in its vicinity playing an important role in the city’s economy. It attracts business around the region and feeds various types of trade and commerce. The Savannah Metropolitan region demands a huge number of trade traffic in a daily basis. The region continues to grow in manufacturing and industry including increasing numbers of businesses and services. The city accommodates this growth by continually improving the port’s state of the art facilities and volume of everyday trade traffic. As the city successfully fulfills the need of the region’s demand, spatial interaction keeps increasing. This results in the influx of a huge number of people and business into the region. Currently the region’s expanse has breached the County as well as State boundaries. It draws business from Counties like Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama and West Virginia.
The Savannah airport also serves as a major indicator helping the region grow as a whole in international trading. Along with its port, the airport also serves a wide range of region uniting and merging areas across the state borders. A concentration of facilities and opportunities can be found around Savannah’s port and airport. The city plays an important role in the region’s economy that increases the interaction and communication of the surrounding communities to the city. As jobs concentrates in the heart of Savannah, the suburban neighborhoods of Savannah observes a daily commute of people and businesses going to and from the city center.
Analysis 2: Transportation Exchange:
The city of Savannah equips a number of facilities and amenities that draws huge volume of people towards the city. It has a great amount of companies and service providers including the some Fortune 500 companies. The port and the airport attracts a substantial amount of trade traffic and retail commutes. It is also a hub of good quality educational facilities as it houses a number of good quality schools, colleges and universities. On the other hand its overgrowing market in tourism industry is one of the major actors that increases the transportation demand of the city. As more numbers of people travel to and from the city, the city grows with the demand of outreached transportation networks.
Savannah enjoys various modes of transportation that serves different purposes and focus groups. The city strategically locates at the junction of the regions rail network routes and the interstate highway system. Apart from that the region also enjoys the connectivity of bus service that unites the city with its metropolitan region. The city’s interaction to the region in terms of transportation reflects the region’s changing trends in demographics and economic. The city, due to its norms in historic preservation and geographic constraints, tends to lose population. On the other hand its growing demand in business followed by housing increases the need of a multi-region transportation network. This multi-regional and multi-modal network increases the city’s spread into the region and increases the possibility of people commuting and trading in the city without staying in the city.
The transportation exchange of the region plays an important role as it helps nourish the economic vitality and attractiveness of the city. As the city continues to grow in demand, need in betterment of the transportation network also increases. The easement in the travel pattern decreases friction and increases the option of transferability of goods and commerce. Most of the city’s success in terms of social interaction lies in the fact, that despite of the existence of other dominating cities like Atlanta, Savannah has its own geographical and historical benefits. This, in spite of all other issues of competitiveness, gives an ever growing opportunity to grow and thrive as a regional metropolis as a whole. Savannah is an important economic player of the region and the existence of a good and multi-modal transportation network benefits it with the growth observed particularly in its metropolitan region.
Savannah enjoys various modes of transportation that serves different purposes and focus groups. The city strategically locates at the junction of the regions rail network routes and the interstate highway system. Apart from that the region also enjoys the connectivity of bus service that unites the city with its metropolitan region. The city’s interaction to the region in terms of transportation reflects the region’s changing trends in demographics and economic. The city, due to its norms in historic preservation and geographic constraints, tends to lose population. On the other hand its growing demand in business followed by housing increases the need of a multi-region transportation network. This multi-regional and multi-modal network increases the city’s spread into the region and increases the possibility of people commuting and trading in the city without staying in the city.
The transportation exchange of the region plays an important role as it helps nourish the economic vitality and attractiveness of the city. As the city continues to grow in demand, need in betterment of the transportation network also increases. The easement in the travel pattern decreases friction and increases the option of transferability of goods and commerce. Most of the city’s success in terms of social interaction lies in the fact, that despite of the existence of other dominating cities like Atlanta, Savannah has its own geographical and historical benefits. This, in spite of all other issues of competitiveness, gives an ever growing opportunity to grow and thrive as a regional metropolis as a whole. Savannah is an important economic player of the region and the existence of a good and multi-modal transportation network benefits it with the growth observed particularly in its metropolitan region.