Department of Geography

This fall, the University Honors Program welcomed a new director, Victoria Lawson, professor of geography, internationally-recognized scholar on global poverty and co-founder of the Relational Poverty Network.

A new study by the UW and the U.N. says by 2100, there could be an extra 4 billion people roaming the planet - making it difficult to discern whether Earth will have enough resources to support the birth of practically another planet-worth of people.

Local governments in China have taken to forced urbanisation with relish in their rush to acquire precious land. Kam Wing Chan, professor of geography, is quoted.

Some have questioned whether migrants are fairly represented in Shanghai test results. Kam Wing Chan, professor of geography, is quoted.

China's leaders reaffirmed their intention to turn urbanization into a powerful engine to drive growth and remake the economy, saying they would encourage rural residents to move to smaller cities, rather than Beijing, Shanghai and other megacities.

Seattle's new council districts were drawn up by former geography professor Richard Morrill. He says they were created with racial fairness as a top priority.

Seattle Charter Amendment 19 seeks to change the way City Council members are elected, from all at-large to seven geographic council districts with two at-large positions.Geography professor emeritus Richard Morrill drew up the map.

Seattle passed San Francisco as the top big city in the nation for the percentage of same-sex couple households. UW geography professor Michael Brown weighs in on what the change means.

Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that, for the second year in a row, the poverty rate for the U.S. remained stable at 15 percent in 2012. There were no statistically significant changes in the poverty rate by race, age, sex, nativity or disability status.

Geography professor Kam Wing Chan discusses the little known "hukou," a small document that could have a big impact on keeping China's poor from joining the middle class.

An interest in social justice led Sam Nowak (BA, Geography) to the Department of Geography, where he pursued research on issues of inequality, particularly among Seattle's homeless and other marginalized populations.

Graham Pruss knows a thing or two about being homeless, having lived through some tough times on the streets as a teen. So when he noticed a growing number of people living in their vehicles in his Seattle neighborhood, he was determined to help.

UW geography students extensively researched neighborhoods along three new RapidRide bus routes in King County, then created a website to share their information with artists creating work for those routes. 

The growing trend of allowing police to "banish" citizens from certain neighborhoods is explored in Banished: The New Social Control in Urban America, by UW Professors Katherine Beckett and Steve Herbert.

When the economy floundered, Chinese migrant workers were among the largest casualties globally, in part because of a Maoist-era institution known as hukou that continues to function in China today, creating two levels of citizenship.