Fieldwork in an Urban Setting: Structuring a Human Geography Learning Exercise By: Susan M. Walcott Walcott, Susan M. (1999) “Fieldwork in an Urban Setting: Structuring a Human Geography Learning

Carefully constructed urban fieldwork enriches students' geographic education in ways impossible to reconstruct in the classroom. Geographic literature lacks good examples from human geography of how this might be accomplished. This research extends fieldwork application to the urban setting at a level most appropriate for college students, particularly those in an urban institution. The research question explored concerns the relationship of a city and its suburbs. Students conducted tests of the suburban dependency theory in five different communities in metropolitan Atlanta, using a variety of data sets, interviews, surveys, and other field techniques. Critical factors previously overlooked were size of the community and the role of county government.