ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

This course is one of the related and supplementary teachings of the Economics and Business program. It aims to provide students with the main conceptual tools in economic geography. The aim of the course is to provide knowledge related to the geographical organisation of the contemporary economy with a particular emphasis on the geographies of production, consumption, circulation and branding of commodities. The course will also focus on the discussion of the UN Agenda 2030's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to offer students a comprehensive overview of what is meant by sustainable development today.

1) Knowledge and understanding
Acquire the basic concepts of economic geography and related terminology and the pillars of sustainable development


2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
To use the basic concepts of economic geography and its language to critically interpret the socio-cultural and environmental impact of economic practices (from production to consumption).

3) Critical thinking
To be able to analyse the production, circulation, branding and consumption of commodities and services by adopting the conceptual lens of economic geography.

4) Communication skills: students learns to synthesise acquired knowledge effectively and coherently and apply it to the economic dimensions of everyday life broadly understood.

political economy and/or microeconomics exams passed and registered

The course programme focuses on key concepts in economic geography such as
place, space, territory, networks
Globalisation
Capitalism and its geographies
Industrial supply chains and spaces
The geography of production and consumption
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals according to the UN 2030 Agenda
Development Geographies (top-down vs bottom up development)
the follow-the-things approach
the geographies of food production and consumption

chapterw drawn from:
Julie MacLeavy, Kean Fan Lim, Allan Watson (2026) Economic Geography: the basics, Routledge.
G. Dematteis, C. Lanza, F. Nano, A. Vanolo, Geografia dell'economia mondiale, UTET, ultima edizione (e.g. chapter on globalisation)
Anderson, J. (2021). Understanding cultural geography: Places and traces. Routledge. (e.g. chapters on capitalism, place, power)
Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D., Sidaway, J., & Hall, T. (2016). An introduction to human geography, Pearson (e.g. chapter on consumption and its geographies)
MacLeavy J., Fan Lim, K. and Watson A. (2026) Economic Geography: The Basics, London, Routledge.
Dini, F., Romei, P., & Randelli, F. (2020). Geografia economica. Mercati, imprese, ambiente e le sfide del mondo contemporaneo Mondadori (e.g. the text about the notion of territory)
Kneafsey, M., Maye, D., Holloway, L., & Goodman, M. K. (2021). Geographies of food: An introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing (e.g chapters on the production of food and on agricultural subsidies)


The chapters and next necessary for the exam will be uploaded on Moodle by the instructor.

The exam consists of a 45-minute written test with 4 mandatory open-ended questions (7.5 points each) and a fifth question (1 point) to obtain honors (lode). To be considered for honors, it is necessary to answer the 4 mandatory questions correctly and achieve a score of 30. The exam will take place in person in the classroom using the Moodle platform.
The instructor reserves the right to complement the written exam with an oral interview if deemed necessary to ensure that the work was completed independently and honestly.

written

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

The exam is graded on a 30-point scale. The minimum passing grade is 18/30.

The indicative grading scale is as follows:
• 18–20/30: satisfactory
• 21–23/30: fair
• 24–26/30: good
• 27–29/30: very good
• 30/30: excellent
• 30 cum laude: awarded to students who correctly answer the four mandatory questions, obtain a grade of 30/30, and correctly answer the additional fifth question.

The course is organized through frontal teaching. Students are encouraged to participate actively in class by asking questions, making comments, and proposing topics for discussion.

All study materials for the exam will be uploaded to the course's Moodle page after each lecture.

NB: Registration for the exam is managed by the electronic system of the University and not by the teacher. ONLY the students indicated in the list provided by the electronic system can take the exam.

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with
mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development