Area reference to Population
Geography Study Group
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(1974). Population Geography Study Group. Area, reference unknown.
(1977). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 9 (2), 130.
(1978). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 10 (1), 71-72.
(1979). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 11 (1), 25.
(1980). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 12 (1), 91.
(1981). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 13 (1), 90-91.
(1982). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 14 (1), 85-86.
(1983). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 15 (4), 365.
(1984). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 16 (4), 349.
(1985). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 17 (4), 346.
(1986). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 18 (4), 343.
(1987). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 19 (4), 364.
(1988). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 20 (4), 386.
(1989). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 21 (4), 448-449.
(1990). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 22 (4), 409.
(1991). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 23 (4), 391-392.
(1992). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 24 (4), 435-436.
(1993). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 25 (4), 428-429.
(1994). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 26 (4), 405-406.
(1995). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 27 (4), 392-393.
Extracts:
(1974). Population Geography Study Group. Area, reference unknown.
Population Geography Study Group
The year started with a symposium on ' British population in the 1970s ' which formed part of the programme
of the IBG annual conference at Norwich. The symposium, consisting of five papers, was organized by Dr P.
A. Compton and is reported in Area 6 (1974), 1, 67-8.
The autumn conference of the group was held at the University of Leeds, on 24-26 September. The
symposium, organized by Dr P. H. Rees, had as its theme' The population geography of social groups '. A
report appears in this issue of Area.
Committee meetings were held during the Norwich, Leeds and Oxford conferences, and the Annual
General Meeting of the Group took place at Oxford on 3 January. The Secretary (Mr J. C. Dewdney) outlined
the year's activities, and the Chairman reviewed the progress of publication plans. Prof. J. I. Clarke said that
eleven papers on the populations of selected countries, marking World Population Year, 1974, had been
published in the Geographical Magazine, that four papers were in press and that two were outstanding. The
Chairman was continuing discussions with prospective publishers concerning publication of the articles in
book form. Dr P. A. Compton reported on the progress of the Special Publication on the population
geography of the UK. Ten papers were now in the hands of Dr B. Robson, Hon. Editor, for further refereeing.
Publication by the end of 1975 was anticipated. Dr Compton also reported that the Group had a credit
balance of £436-09. A major portion of this would go toward meeting the expenses of invited speakers at the
Oxford symposium.
The three officers of the Group (Prof. J. I. Clarke, Chairman; Dr J. C. Dewdney, Secretary; and Dr P.
A. Compton, Treasurer) retired on completion of their terms of office. Prof. Clarke thanked the retiring
Secretary and Treasurer for their efforts of the past three years, and was himself thanked by Mr B. E. Coates
and Prof. R. Lawton Dr E. Brooks was elected Chairman of the new committee, Dr P. H. Rees was elected
Secretary and Dr J. C. Dewdney was elected Treasurer. Dr J. B. Caird retired from the committee. The three
committee vacancies created were filled by election of Mr P. Ogden, Dr P. L. Knox and Prof. J. I. Clarke.
Newly elected officers and committee members serve until 1978.
The committee discussed suggestions for future symposia and it was decided to hold the autumn
meeting in London on the 25-26 September 1975. This would be a joint meeting with the Developing Areas
Study Group on the theme ' Population and economic growth with particular reference to the developing
world'. Potential contributors are asked to contact Dr Edwin Brooks (Liverpool) or Dr Alan Gilbert (UCL) and
to supply titles and 200 word abstracts of papers as soon as possible.
Philip H. Rees
(1977). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 9 (2), 130.
Population Geography Study Group
The activities of the group, the oldest of the study groups of the IBG, have continued in the established
pattern throughout the year. The major meeting was convened by Philip Rees (Leeds), jointly with the
Quantitative Methods Study Group, in Sheffield in September, on the theme ' The use and analysis of
census data'.
During the Newcastle annual conference there was a symposium on ' Historical demography',
organized jointly with the Historical Geography Study Group by Philip Ogden (QMC). Both symposia were
well attended by the Group's members, and these contacts with other study groups are proving to be of
considerable value. During the 1978 annual conference in Hull, it is hoped to have another joint symposium,
in this case with the Medical Geography Study Group. During the year the Group was considerably affected
by the resignation of two of its principal officers. Edwin Brooks (Liverpool) resigned as chairman of the group
from the AGM in January 1977 following his appointment to a post in Australia. At the AGM John Dewdney
(Durham) was elected chairman to serve until 1980, and the newly vacant treasurership has been filled by
Philip Ogden. Philip Rees resigned as Secretary during April, but has remained as a member of the
committee. His duties were taken up by Bill Gould (Liverpool). Huw Jones (Dundee), Colin Pooley
(Lancaster) and Ian Thomas (East Anglia) have been elected to the committee.
Although this group has been in existence as a study group of the Institute since 1968 (and had had
a less formal structure since 1963), there had been no register of member's research activities in that time.
However, steps have now been taken to remedy this deficiency, and a very incomplete register of interests of
the group's members (over 220) has been compiled (W. T. S. Gould (ed)., Population Geography Study
Group: Register of member's interests, September, 1976, mimeo). It is hoped to considerably revise and
extend the register during 1977, to provide a much more comprehensive survey of current interests in
population geography in Britain.
W. T. S. Gould
(1978). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 10 (1), 71-72.
Population Geography Study Group
This has been a particularly active and successful year for the Group, with major emphasis being given to
interaction with other groups working in the demographic field. At the Institute's Annual Conference in
Newcastle a whole-day symposium on 'Historical demography' was conducted with the Historical Geography
Research Group (reported in Area, 9, 1), and in September a major innovation saw the Group hold a two-day
conference with the British Society for Population Studies at Liverpool. This conference on ' British regional
populations' (reported in this number of Area) was an unqualified success in terms of interaction stimulated
amongst population geographers, statisticians, academic demographers, and central and local government
planners. One participant declared publicly that this had been the best small conference he had attended.
Interaction was also fostered at the Institute's most recent Annual Conference at Hull, when the Group met
with the Medical Geography Study Group for a whole-day symposium on ' Population and medical
information systems' (reported in this number of Area).
A second feature of the year has been the Group's concern with census data. Philip Rees initiated
and co-ordinated Group efforts to produce a submission to the Registrar General on proposals for the 1981
census, while John Dewdney and Paul Compton have made provision for the supply of 1971 census gridsquare data (1 km sq. resolution) to Group members for requested areas within Great Britain and Northern
Ireland.
The next meeting of the Group will be a conference on ' Population policies ' at the University of
Durham, 20-22 September 1978.
Huw R. Jones
(1979). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 11 (1), 25.
Population Geography Study Group
The year opened with a joint symposium at Hull with the Medical Geography Study Group on 'Population and
medical information systems ' (reported in Area 10(1978), 57-8) and closed with a joint symposium with the
Urban Geography Study Group at Manchester on ' Spatial aspects of ageing and the elderly'. The major
intervening activity was the customary 2-3 day September conference, which continues to be a popular and
well supported feature. This year the conference returned to Durham, where the theme of 'Population
policies' attracted thirteen papers, about 40 residential members and stimulated active discussion. Planning
is now at an advanced stage for what promises to be a particularly attractive conference at Cambridge, 2123 September 1979, on 'Population and development', organized jointly with the Developing Areas Study
Group.
Huw R. Jones
(1980). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 12 (1), 91.
Population Geography Study Group
The year opened with a joint symposium with the Urban Geography Study Group at Manchester on ' Spatial
aspects of old age '. The September residential conference, which has been the main focus of the Group's
formal and informal activities in recent years and which is invariably well supported, was held at Cambridge
around the theme of Population and Development. This first joint venture with the Developing Areas Study
Group was widely regarded as lively and successful. Planning is well advanced for the September 1980
conference, ' Migration and the process of social change', at Oxford-another break-out from the DurhamLeeds-Sheffield-Liverpool axis long favoured by the Group.
Huw R. Jones
(1981). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 13 (1), 90-91.
Population Geography Study Group
The group's activities focused on the September residential conference which was held at St. Catherine's
College, Oxford on the theme Migration and the process of social change. The event turned out to be both a
well attended and a lively affair with a wide range of contributions on rural migration, urbanisation,
segregation and labour migration as well as a guest lecture from the distinguished French population
geographer Daniel Noin. Planning is now underway for the September 1981 meeting which will be held at
the University of East Anglia together with the compilation of a new register of research on population
geography and the field of population studies in general.
R. I. Woods
(1982). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 14 (1), 85-86.
Population Geography Study Group
The theme of this year's symposium at the Southampton Conference, convened by A. Findlay (Glasgow)
was ' Recent national population change '. Whilst most contributors concerned themselves with reviewing
contemporary developments in population distribution and structure, others were anxious to explore more
conceptual issues. The contrasting populations of the USSR and Canada were considered by, respectively,
John Dewdney (Durham) and Alan Nash (Queen's, Ontario). The former example showed considerable
regional disparities in growth which have come to light in the preliminary findings of the 1979 census, while
the latter revealed a case of demographic ageing with important implications for social planning. Very
different, though in most respects more acute, problems were raised in three papers on the populations of
underdeveloped countries. Ian Secombe (Durham) dealt with the impact of labour migration on the Jordanian
population; Adrian Wood (Zambia) with population redistribution and resources in Zambia; and Maurice
Ebong (Calabar, Nigeria) with' rational 'migration policies.
Some interesting methodological issues were raised in papers concerned with Great Britain. Chris
Denham (OPCS) reviewed some of the major district level changes in England and Wales on the basis of
preliminary results from the 1981 census. He also mentioned the possibility of using ' census tracts '
(combinations of enumeration districts or parishes) in order to compare the 1971 and 1981 censuses as what
seemed to be an ad hoc substitute for the loss of grid square data in 1981. Tony Champion (Newcastle)
dealt with 'rural rejuvenation ' in Great Britain beyond the areas of metropolitan influence and Bert van der
Knap (Erasmus, Rotterdam) was concerned with the modelling of comparable processes in Holland.
Two of the more conceptual papers dealt with notions of the demographic transition (John Clarke,
Durham) and counterurbanisation (Tony Fielding, Sussex). The former proposed a classification of nation
states by their levels of crude birth and death rates and proceeded to relate such levels to state population
size with some interesting results. The latter proposed a new interpretation of counterurbanisation in western
Europe which although interesting seemed to avoid the definitional point that the observed process of
counterurbanisation is not the opposite of urbanisation since the former does not involve counterurbanism
whereas the latter clearly did in Europe. Would ' ruralisation 'prove a more appropriate term?
On a political note, Egon Weber (Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universitat, Greifswald, DDR) who was due to
present a paper on population change in East Germany had his exit visa withdrawn in mid-December 1981.
The proceedings of the symposium are due to appear in the first of the Study Group's occasional series of
publications. Arrangements for the conference on historical demography (Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 911 September 1982) to be held jointly with the Historical Geography Study Group (programme convenor
Colin Pooley, Lancaster) are well advanced and plans are afoot for a symposium on the geography of fertility
to be held in Edinburgh Uanuary 1983, convenor John Coward, Ulster).
R. I. Woods
(1983). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 15 (4), 365.
Population Geography Study Group
Emmanuel College, Cambridge was the venue in September 1983 for a two-day conference on historical
demography organised jointly with the HGRG. The meeting proved a particularly well attended and lively
one, covering most of the major aspects of research by geographers, demographers and historians on past
populations. The 'demographic' theme was continued at Edinburgh with a symposium on fertility patterns and
structures convened by John Coward (Ulster) (see Area 15, pp 81-2). Forthcoming events include the AngloDutch seminar on migration to be held in Utrecht (14-16 September 1983) organised for the PGSG by Paul
White (Sheffield). During 1984 meetings are to be held at Durham, during the Annual Conference, on islamic
populations (John Dewdney, Durham) and at Sheffield (20-22 September 1984) on the results of the 1981
Population Census (jointly with Regional Science Association and British Society for Population Studies).
The first of the Study Group's annual Newssheets also appeared in 1983.
R. I. Woods
(1984). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 16 (4), 349.
Population Geography Study Group
A full programme of conferences and conference arrangements has characterised the PGSG year. A very
stimulating and enjoyable Anglo-Dutch seminar on migration took place in Utrecht in September 1983. This
served to point out particularly the different approaches of researchers in the two countries. Our Dutch
colleagues are much more involved in the planning process and much of their migration research is
commissioned by national and local government to study specific problems. A day session on Islamic
populations was our main effort at the Durham IBG meeting. A series of diverse papers prompted the
question, is there really an Islamic population geography? Eagerly anticipated on 20-22 September 1984 is a
joint conference with the British Society for Population Studies and the Regional Science Association on
analysis and applications of the 1981 census results (at Sheffield University-local organiser Bob Woods).
This will be followed at the Leeds IBG by a day session (Tuesday 8 January) on ' return migration', convened
by Russell King (Leicester), and a half-day session (Wednesday 9 January), jointly with the HELSG, on the
implications of demographic and social change on higher education provision, and especially the effects on
geography. Planned also is our autumn 1985 conference, to be held 18-20 September 1985 at the University
of Liverpool. Allan Findlay (Glasgow) is the convenor, Bill Gould (Liverpool) the local organiser, and the
theme will be a general one: ' current population geography issues and research '.
Two other ventures are getting off the ground. First, the PGSG committee has agreed to sponsor two
workshops, got together to discuss research problems. Intended for early 1985, these will consider sources
and uses of longitudinal data and use and analysis of the 1980/1 European census round. Convenors are
John Salt (UCL) and Paul White (Sheffield) respectively. Second, the committee has taken the first steps
(Allan Findlay co-ordinating) to launch a new series of publications on patterns of population change using
national census data.
The group's second newsletter appeared in April last, and a third is planned for this autumn. Actively
being fostered also is contact with other groups concerned with population problems.
John Salt University College London
(1985). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 17 (4), 346.
Population Geography Study Group
The activities of the group continue at a high level, with a number of initiatives being taken and coming to
fruition. Last September saw a well attended joint conference at Sheffield with the Regional Science
Association and the British Society for Population Studies tackle some of the problems of analysing and
applying the results of the 1981 census. At the Leeds Annual Conference an excellent session on return
migration combined the theoretical with the empirical. The next day a crowded house began to get to grips
with some of the implications for higher education of current demographic trends, in a joint PGSG/HELSG
session. Our September conference at Liverpool is devoted to reviewing our current research efforts in
population geography, with one session devoted to teasing out what seem to be the priorities. Two sessions
are planned for the Reading Annual Conference in 1986, on gender issues and population change, and a
young researcher's forum. In September 1986 there will be a second Anglo-Dutch conference, aimed at a
series of systematic comparisons between the population geographies of the two countries. The first
workshop, on the 1980s European Census Round, was enthusiastically attended at Sheffield in March, and
the proceedings are to be published. The second, on longitudinal data use in migration research, will be at
University College London in October 1985. A new initiative from the Committee is the setting up of working
parties within the group addressed to emerging research issues in selected areas of the subject. The group
is also going ahead with a Monograph Series, to be published by Geo Books. Some proposals have already
been received, others are welcomed. Members of the group have also taken active parts in a range of
conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings, both at home and overseas, and the group is anxious to
promote greater contact with those studying population problems both within and without geography.
John Salt University College London
(1986). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 18 (4), 343.
Population Geography Study Group
It has been another full year for the group and the level of activity looks set to continue into 1987 and
beyond. The reporting year began last September with the Liverpool conference on ' Contemporary issues
and research in population geography '. A wide range of papers was listened to and commented upon by just
about everyone who was anyone in British population geography-literally with only one or two exceptions. An
open session on research priorities ultimately disappointed-perhaps because, as one participant put it-we
were trying to' bottle fog'. At the Reading annual conference we engaged in a joint venture with the Women
and Geography Study Group on' Gender issues and population change ' and ran a session for young
research workers in population geography. July saw a joint British-French symposium on 'Ageing', held in
London, and the European theme continued in September with a British Dutch conference comparing
population issues in our two countries. A second workshop, on longitudinal data in migration study, was held
in London in November 1985; a third, on population geography software, will be held at Leeds in November
1986. Prospectively, we shall take part in two sessions at the Portsmouth annual conference, and the high
spot of 1987 will be a joint seminar in the UK in early autumn with the Population Geography Specialty Group
of the AAG. Members of the group are also on the IBG Working Party on the International Migration of
Skilled Labour. The main committee preoccupation this year has been production of the research document
for Council. What this served to show was the tremendous amount and range of research currently being
conducted by our members. It is particularly pleasing that good links are being fostered with population
geographers in other countries and with non-academics, while at the same time longstanding contacts with
population scholars in other disciplines are being maintained. With active researchers, good links and a well
filled showcase of activities the study group is stronger than it has been for some time.
John Salt University College London
(1987). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 19 (4), 364.
Population Geography Study Group The Population Geography Study Group organised a joint meeting
with the Royal Dutch Geographical Society at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in September 1986 on the
comparative population geography of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Papers covered data
sources, natural change, household evolution, multi-regional modelling, population mobility, international
migration, intra-urban mobility, labour migration, mobility of the elderly, urban change, non-metropolitan
change and ethnic minorities. Negotiations are proceeding in the Netherlands for the publication of a book
containing edited versions of these papers. At the 1987 IBG Annual Conference at Portsmouth Polytechnic
the PGSG was involved in the theme session on the rise and fall of great cities, which included papers on the
urban demographic' sink 'and on migration and urban development in Western Europe. It also held a half-day
symposium on population change in urban areas, with papers on migrant workers in Lyon, sociodemographic change in Paris, monitoring migration in Glasgow and poverty in metropolitan North America. In
May 1987 Philip Rees and John Stillwell organised a workshop on population geography software at the
University of Leeds, featuring models of cohort survival, life tables, accounting, population projections,
migration and spatial statistics. Plans for the September 1987 conference at Mansfield College, Oxford, had
to be changed because of the postponement of the joint meeting with the AAG's Population Specialty Group
on migration and social change owing to funding problems for the Americans. Instead, this meeting is
focusing on information systems for populations and their demographic, socio economic and housing
characteristics. At the 1988 IBG Annual Conference at Loughborough the PGSG is involved in two symposia;
one on the international migration of skilled labour (arising from the activities of the Working Party in which
several PGSG members are involved) and the other on the rise and fall of counterurbanisation. Later in 1988
there is the possibility of a joint meeting with the British Society for Population Studies on local area
demography and preparations are being made to put forward views to the OPCS concerning the 1991
Census.
A G Champion University of Newcastle
(1988). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 20 (4), 386.
Population Geography Study Group
The main activities during the year ending June 1988 were a residential conference at Oxford in September,
involvement in two sessions at the IBG annual conference in Loughborough, and a one-day workshop at
Birmingham in May. Other activities included the compilation of a Register of members' research interests, a
submission to the Registrar General concerning the 1991 Census, representations to the Registrar General
to reopen the OPCS Library for public use (which were successful), the circulation of two issues of the Study
Group Newsletter and the development of contacts with other population societies in the UK, Europe and the
USA. Currently membership stands at 155. The two-day conference at Mansfield College, Oxford was
organised by Philip Rees (Leeds) and Mark Saunders, and focussed on information systems for populations
and their demographic, socio-economic and housing characteristics. It brought together people from the
academic community, local and central government, and the private sector. Sessions ranged from national
through regional to local information systems, as well as including a lively round-table discussion on the
implications of the Data Protection Act on current and proposed information systems. At the IBG Annual
Conference at Loughborough, a half-day session was devoted to the international migration of skilled labour.
Bill Gould (Liverpool), who convened the session, presented the research agenda resulting from the work of
the IBG Limited Life Working Party on this topic and, among others, the session included a paper from N
Chakroun (University of Poitiers) who was the Study Group's nomination as Conference Guest under the
Young Research Workers scheme. Counterurbanisation was the theme of a four-module session, which
examined migration and social change in rural Britain, the recent decline in London's migration losses, and
selected national experiences of counterurbanisation (Norway, Denmark, West Germany, France and Italy)
and ended with a discussion of key themes chaired by the convenor, Tony Champion (Newcastle). The
workshop at Birmingham was organised by Mark Saunders to examine the characteristics of National Health
Service Central Register data on re-registrations with doctors and to assess its value for monitoring internal
migration in Britain. Papers dealt with the organisation and records of Family Practitioner Committees, the
use made of this source by OPCS, and differences between Census and NHSCR data. The workshop was
attended by 23 people, with participants coming from academia, both local and central government and
Family Practitioner Committees. In September, a joint conference with the British Society for Population
Studies at Nottingham University was held; the theme was local area demography in business and
government. At the IBG annual conference at Coventry the Study Group is involved in two sessions; one on
people in the countryside (jointly with the Rural Geography Study Group) and the other on the population
structure and dynamics of minority groups. It is hoped to continue the successful run of spring workshops
and the 1989 autumn residential conference is planned to take place at Newcastle University on the broad
theme of research directions in population geography.
A G Champion University of Newcastle
(1989). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 21 (4), 448-449.
Population Geography Study Group
The main activities during the year ending June 1989 were a residential conference at Nottingham University
in September, involvement in two sessions at the IBG Annual Conference in Coventry, and a one-day
workshop at University College London in May. Other activities included an updating of the Research
Register to December 1988, further representations to the OPCS in relation to the 1991 Census, and the
circulation of two issues of the Study Group Newsletter. Currently membership remains strong at 155. The
three-day conference at Nottingham was on the theme of' Local area demography in business and
government' and was held jointly with the British Society for Population Studies (BSPS). This meeting
brought together demographers, geographers, planners and social statisticians and involved people from
academic institutions, government agencies and the private sector. There were some 12 plenary papers,
plus 22 papers in a set of parallel sessions of contributed papers, together with panel discussions on the
relationship between demography and geography and on data needs. A fuller report was published in Area
21, 101-3. At the IBG Annual Conference at Coventry, Bob Woods (Liverpool) and Paul White (Sheffield)
convened a three-module session on the population structure and dynamics of minority populations. This
included a paper from Dr Paul Gans (Kiel), the Study Group's nomination as Conference Guest under the
Young Workers Scheme, on changes in the structure of the foreigner population of West Germany since
1980. A full-day session on people in the countryside took place jointly with the Rural Geography Study
Group, convened by Tony Champion (Newcastle) and Charles Watkins (Royal Agricultural College). This
included papers on housing, the mobility problems of the elderly and disabled, population change, job
opportunities for women, government policy and data sources, as well as Russell King (TCD) on rural
change in Italy and Ulrich Kockel (Liverpool) on the economic transformation of Galway. The workshop in
May was convened by Peter Congdon (London Research Centre) jointly with the British Section of the
Regional Science Association. This focused on sub-national fertility and mortality and included papers on the
latest Decennial Supplement on the geography of mortality, the analysis of small-area mortality and cancer
morbidity, patterns of mortality and fertility in London, and Protestant/Catholic differences in fertility in
Northern Ireland. At this meeting Paul Compton (Belfast) paid tribute to John Coward, who was to have given
a paper here. The death of John Coward in the M1 air crash on January 8 has been a major blow for the
Study Group and its committee, which he served so well and for which he had just been elected Treasurer.
John Stillwell (Leeds) has taken his place as Treasurer, while the Committee has three other new faces in
Elspeth Graham (St Andrews), Ray Hall (QMC) and John Jowett (Glasgow). At the last AGM Bob Woods
(Liverpool) took over from Phil Rees (Leeds) as Chairman and is continuing the good links which the Group
has recently established with the OPCS and BSPS. Phil Rees continues to act for the Study Group in relation
to the 1991 Census, while Alison McCleery (Napier) continues as Newsletter Editor in a newly formalised
post.
A G Champion University of Newcastle upon Tyne
(1990). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 22 (4), 409.
Population Geography Study Group
In recent years the activities of the Population Geography Study Group have followed the pattern of a
September Study Group meeting held over three days, the organisation of two sessions at the Annual
Conference of the Institute, and the presentation of a specialist one-day workshop on some aspect of the
sub-discipline, held in the Spring. That pattern was retained throughout the reporting year 1989-90, although
an intensification of activities is planned for 1991, as will be reported later.
The September three-day conference in 1989 was held at the University of Newcastle-upon Tyne,
with the theme 'Recent research and future priorities in population geography'. Such a theme enabled
participants to take a broad overview of the subject, and to learn what fellow researchers were doing in fields
that may have been a little removed from their own-the highly specialist conference too often ends up as a
small self-selected group talking to itselfl The programme for Newcastle was skilfully put together by Tony
Champion (Newcastle) and Ray Hall (QMW, University of London) and contained sessions on migration in
the UK, ethnic minorities, historical population studies, population modelling, population in the Third World,
and ageing. All of these sessions demonstrated the current vigour of research in population geography, as
also did two further discussions-one on data sources, and the other on the role of population geography both
within geography as a whole and within demography.
The two sessions sponsored by the PopGSG at Glasgow were on Population and Development (with
DARG), organised by Huw Jones (Dundee), and on Population and Geographical Information Systems,
organised by Robin Flowerdew (Lancaster). The first of these included papers on the Chinese experience,
urbanisation, HIV +/AIDS in Africa (producing considerable media interest), and on the re-examination of
Malthusian perspectives. The session on GIS, including a paper by Stuart Aitken (San Diego), invited under
the Young Research Workers Scheme, ranged widely over both conceptual and practical issues, but with
refreshing signs that the time is fast approaching when population geographers will be using GIS as a tool for
specific purposes, and not simply taking an interest in it as an end in itself.
The May 1990 workshop was organised by Eilidh Garrett (LSE) and held at the University of Leeds
where a number of active researchers participated in a session on the use of nominal record linkage
techniques, not just in population geography but in the discipline as a whole. In late June, population
geographers took part in a meeting of the British Society for Population Studies at the LSE where they
demonstrated their research expertise on migration and migrants to an audience of demographers.
One further activity in which the Group has continued to be involved during the year is discussion
with OPCS over the 1991 census, in which Phil Rees (Leeds) has been assiduous as the group's
spokesperson. Clearly the decennial injection of new data into British population geography will be keenly
awaited by many.
The Group's plans for 1991 have taken shape early. There will be sessions at IBG Sheffield on
household and family structures and on migration in Britain (this last developing from an IBG Short-Life
Working Party). The Spring workshop will be replaced by an international seminar to be held in the
Netherlands, linking German and Swedish population geographers as well as the British and Dutch. Later in
the year meetings are planned on' Population geography and social theory ' and on ' Refugees ' (in
collaboration with DARG).
Paul White University of Sheffield
(1991). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 23 (4), 391-392.
Population Geography Study Group
Three meetings have been held during the past year, with a certain bias towards migration topics. This is in
part a reflection of the work that has been carried out under the auspices of the IBG Limited Life Working
Party on Migration in which Population Geography Study Group members have played a major part. The
themes for meetings during 1991-2 will, however, redress the balance somewhat with representation of other
areas of population geographers' concerns.
In September 1990 John Stillwell (Leeds) organised a one-day Study Group meeting at the University of
Liverpool during the annual conference of the Regional Science Association: the theme was 'Migration
modelling: macro and micro perspectives'. A variety of technical and methodological issues were aired in a
number of papers concerned with the handling of British data.
At IBG Sheffield the Study Group organised two successful sessions. The first of these, convened by
Bob Woods (Liverpool) diverged from the dominance of migration research by concentrating on' Household
and family structures 'and four papers were presented on a variety of contemporary and historical topics. The
second Study Group session, organised by Tony Champion (Newcastle) consisted of a day devoted to the
findings of the Migration Working Party, and packed in more papers (impeccably timed) than have possibly
ever before been given in a single IBG conference session, and which also elicited considerable media
attention. Shortly after the IBG Conference a number of population geographers were also involved in a oneday meeting organised jointly by the British Society for Population Studies and the International Union for the
Scientific Study of Population, held at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, at
which the theme was ' Population and Environment'.
In April 1991 British population geographers joined with their Dutch colleagues for a third collaborative
meeting, following earlier successful conferences in 1983 and 1986. This one took place at Soesterberg in
the Netherlands and pursued a variety of themes in migration research, and in the modelling of household
and housing demand change. One notable feature was the presentation of several papers setting out
conceptual challenges and research agendas for the future.
By the time this report is published, the Population Geography Study Group will have held what promises
to be a very lively, and topical, September conference on ' The Refugee Crisis', organised jointly with the
Developing Areas Study Group. At IBG Swansea there will be a day devoted to a look forward at population
issues in Europe towards the year 2000, as well as a research forum aimed particularly at postgraduate
students. March 1992 will see the postponed seminar on' Population and social theory', to be held at St
Andrew's University.
Apart from these meetings the Study Group has been active in other directions. A new research register
is being produced jointly with other population research groups in the UK. Papers given in the Study Group's
session at IBG Coventry (1989) have now been issued as a book entitled People in the Countryside, edited
by Tony Champion and Charles Watkins; and two books are in preparation from the work done by the
Migration Working Party.
Paul White University of Sheffield
(1992). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 24 (4), 435-436.
Population Geography Study Group
1992 is the year in which the first major data sets from the 1990-91 census round carried out in many parts
of the world start to become available. In terms of Population Geography Study Group activities the IBG
reporting year 1991-92 has seen members starting to gear up for census analysis, alongside consideration of
other, often far less quantifiable issues.
September 1991 saw a highly ambitious, and very successful, joint meeting on ' The refugee crisis'
with the Developing Areas Research Group held at Kings College, London. The organisers, Richard Black
(Kings College) and Vaughan Robinson (Swansea), were successful in drawing in financial support from a
number of quarters to support a truly international set of participants. A major book will later be published
drawing on conference contributions, and the theme of refugee studies is now firmly on the agenda for future
discussion by population geographers.
The Swansea conference saw the study group offering a day session, organised by Ray Hall (QMW,
London) and Paul White (Sheffield), on ' Europe's population: towards the year 2000'. Contributors to this
session came from several European countries including the CIS, and one of the papers was given by Daniel
Noin (Paris I), the President of the IGU's Commission on population geography. The session also saw the
presentation by Maria-Carmen Faus-Pujol of the first John Coward Memorial Lecture, named after the former
treasurer of the study group who was killed in the Kegworth air crash after the annual conference at
Coventry.
During the year a group of population geographers under the chairmanship of Phil Rees (Leeds)
obtained ESRC support for the establishment of a Census Analysis Group. This group held its first meeting
in Leeds in April, discussing issues to be addressed over the next two years and highlighting technical
questions and research agendas concerning the British population census results.
By the time this report is published the Population Geography Study Group will have held a
September workshop in Sheffield on the theme of qualitative methods in population research. Plans for the
future involve participation in three sessions at the IBG annual conference at Royal Holloway and Bedford
New College. The study group will be involved in joint sessions with DARG on 'Mobility and the New World
Order' and with the Economic Geography Study Group on 'Demography, labour force change and economic
restructuring'. The study group, in conjunction with the Census Analysis Group, will also be organising a
session on 'Small area population change in the UK: 1981-91 '.
Finally, international contacts continue to grow. A group of British population geographers will be
holding a joint meeting with American colleagues in Los Angeles in August 1992 in parallel with an IGU
meeting there. Also discussions are currently taking place for joint seminars with Swedish colleagues and
Italian colleagues in 1993 or 1994.
Paul White University of Sheffield
(1993). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 25 (4), 428-429.
Population Geography Study Group
1992-93 has been another busy year for the PGSG, with many group members involved with investigating,
interpreting and mapping the results of the 1991 Census of Population. However, whilst Census analysis has
been a major preoccupation since the Small Area Statistics and the Local Base Statistics became available,
the activities of the Study Group have been more widespread.
In August 1992, nine PGSG members gave papers at a UK/US meeting on 'Migration in postindustrial society' in Los Angeles convened by Tony Champion (Newcastle) and Curt Roseman (Southern
California). In early September, a workshop was held on 'Qualitative methods' at the University of Sheffield to
which the organisers, Deborah Sporton (Sheffield) and Eilidh Garrett (CAMPOP, Cambridge), invited a
number of established researchers to make presentations and to lead discussion groups on specific themes.
The participation of a considerable number of postgraduates in this workshop was very pleasing.
At the IBG Annual Conference at Royal Holloway, the Study Group offered three whole day sessions
jointly with other groups. The first, organised with DARG by Allan Findlay (Glasgow) and Bill Gould
(Liverpool), considered the theme of' Mobility and the New World Order '. The second session focussed on
the inter-relationships between ' Demography, labour force change and economic restructuring' and was
organised as a joint venture with IAADSG and convened by John Stillwell (Leeds) and Louise Crewe
(Nottingham). The third session brought together those interested in the early results of the Census. It
represented the second of a series of ESRC-sponsored meetings organised by the Census Analysis Group
under the chairmanship of Phil Rees (Leeds).
During the year, the study group has been involved in a number of other initiatives. Four articles
based on presentations at a joint meeting of the IBG and the Royal Geographic Society in December 1992 to
discuss the data contained in the Census Monitors, have been published as a special feature, edited by
Tony Champion, in Town and Country Planning. A further set of papers reporting Census results has been
submitted for publication in Geography Review under the editorship of John Stillwell (Leeds). The proposal
for a Limited Life Working Party on the Geopolitics of International Migration in Europe, written by Russell
King (Dublin), Allan Findlay (Glasgow) and Tony Champion (Newcastle), was approved by the IBG Council
and will have its inaugural meeting in July. The IBG also agreed to provide some financial support for the
attendance of postgraduates at an Anglo-Italian Seminar on' Population geography' in Sardinia in September
1993.
Finally, the PGSG and the British Society for Population Studies (BSPS) have produced a 'Register
of Research Interests in Population '. Originally, both bodies saw the advantage of having a document which
would promote research links between the two organisations, demonstrate the strength and diversity of
population research in the UK, and allow those outside the field of population studies to locate individuals
who might be able to act as experts, consultants or sources of information. The Register contains details of
those 73 members of either society who responded to a questionnaire together with an index of keywords
which makes it easy to find those with research interests in common. Copies of the Research Register are
available from Eilidh Garrett (CAMPOP, 27, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IQA).
Plans for future activities of the PGSG include: the Anglo-Italian meeting; a major conference in
September on 'Research on the 1991 Census' (organised in conjunction with CAG, BSPS and the Regional
Science Association) at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne; and two sessions at the forthcoming IBG
Annual Conference at Nottingham.
John Stillwell University of Leeds
(1994). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 26 (4), 405-406.
Population Geography Study Group
The Population Geography Study Group has continued its momentum of conference and publication
activities throughout 1993-94. In addition, negotiations have taken place with John Wiley Publishers to
establish a new international journal. Study Group members were involved in two meetings in September,
1993. The first British-Italian seminar on ' Population Geography ' took place in Sardinia, convened by
Russell King (Sussex) and Maria Luisa Gentileschi (Cagliari), and brought together some 60 delegates,
including three postgraduates whose travel expenses were supported by IBG funds. The second was a
major conference on ' Research on the 1991 Census ', organised jointly with the British Society for
Population Studies, the British Section of Regional Science Association International and the ESRC funded
Census Analysis Group. The meeting was hosted by the University of Newcastle under the overall guidance
of Tony Champion (Newcastle) and provided an opportunity for a large audience to hear about the progress
of ESRC-funded projects in the university sector of other Census research undertaken in the public and
private sectors. It also enabled useful dialogue to take place between the research community and the Office
of Population Censuses and Surveys and the chance for participants to find out the latest news on the
availability of data sets such as the Special Workplace Statistics and Special Migration Statistics.
At the IBG Annual Conference at Nottingham in January 1994, the Study Group offered two
sessions. Elspeth Graham (St Andrews) and Tony Champion convened a half day session to consider
'Geographical Aspects of Fertility', which included a John Coward memorial lecture presented by Dominique
Creton (Lille), whose research has done much to advance John's work on Irish fertility. The second half day
session convened by Deborah Sporton (Sheffield) and involved presentations of ongoing and recently
completed ' Postgraduate Research in Population Geography '.
During the year, the Study Group has been involved in a number of other initiatives. A set of articles
reporting analyses of 1991 Census results by Tony Champion (Newcastle), Anne Green (Warwick), Vaughan
Robinson (Swansea) and Phil Rees (Leeds) was published, under the editorship of John Stillwell (Leeds), in
four issues of Geography Review. A book on ' Geography and Refugees ' based on the proceedings of a
joint meeting of the Population Geography and Developing Areas Study Groups in September 1991, edited
by Vaughan Robinson (Swansea) and Richard Black (Kings, London) was published by Belhaven Press. The
Limited Life Working Party on the Geopolitics of International Migration in Europe met during the year under
the chairmanship of Russell King (Sussex), who is convening a day session at the forthcoming IBG Annual
Conference at Northumbria.
One of the most important developments to occur during the year has been the announcement of the
publication of a new International Journal of Population Geography in September 1995. Members of the
Study Group have met on a number of occasions with lain Stevenson Uohn Wiley) to identify and ratify the
key objectives and organisational structure of the new journal. The journal aims to inform population
geographers of the best research in the sub-discipline, to promote the exchange of views on what constitutes
best practice in population research, to facilitate debate, to evaluate the significance for population
geography of research findings in the social sciences, and to provide a forum for population geographers to
assess philosophical and methodological developments. The editors of the journal, Bob Woods (Liverpool)
and Huw Jones (Dundee), will be supported by a book reviews editor and three overseas sub-editors
covering North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. The Editorial Board, composed primarily of members of
the Population Geography Study Group Committee, will provide indicative guidelines for the editors.
Provisional plans are now being made for an international conference organised by the Population
Geography Study Group, probably at the University of Dundee, to coincide with the launching of the new
journal in September 1995. Finally, the Study Group is indebted to the contribution that Alison McCleery
(Napier) has made over the last eight years in editing and distributing the Newsletter. The job has now been
taken over by Paul Boyle (Swansea) who has introduced a number of new innovations in issue No 22 which
appeared in the Spring.
John Stillwell University of Leeds
(1995). Population Geography Study Group. Area, 27 (4), 392-393.
Population Geography Study Group
Another year has passed in which the Study Group has organised or participated in various initiatives that
have covered a range of different themes. On several occasions, this has involved working with colleagues in
other RGS-IBG Study Groups and it is pleasing to report a series of very successful meetings. The annual
cycle of events began in September 1994 with a British-Dutch-Swedish Conference on 'Population Planning
and Policies', hosted by the University of Umea at Laxon, near Galve in Sweden, and convened by Lars-Eric
Borgegard (Umea) and Allan Findlay (Dundee). Selected papers from the conference will be appearing in a
special issue of Applied Geography or in an edited collection on local and regional planning issues.
At the IBG Annual Conference at Northumbria in January 1994, the Study Group offered two whole
day sessions. The first of these, on the ' Geopolitics of International Migration in Europe ', was convened by
Russell King (Sussex) and organised in conjunction with the Political Geography Study Group to report on
the findings of the Limited Life Working Party that had been in operation over the previous two years. A
selection of the papers are destined to appear in Transactions in due course. The second session, convened
by Phil Rees (Leeds) and Robin Flowerdew (Lancaster) focused on the ' Analysis of Census Commuting and
Migration Data'. This session was organised jointly with the Census Analysis Group and provided the
opportunity for researchers to report the results of work on the Special Migration Statistics and the Special
Workplace Statistics. Both these sessions attracted large audiences and provoked good discussion. During
the last six months, two further events have taken place with which the Study Group has been involved. In
March, the Population and Rural Geography Study Groups organised a three day conference on ' Migration
Issues in Rural Areas', hosted by the Migration Unit at the Department of Geography, University of Wales at
Swansea and convened by Paul Boyle (Leeds). In May, nearly fifty people from academic geography, health
authorities and research in other social and medical sciences gathered at the Liverpool Medical Institution for
a one day conference on ' Limiting Long Term Illness '. This conference was convened by Graham Mooney
(North West Regional Health Authority) on behalf of the Medical Geography Study Group and Sarah Curtis
(QMW, London) on behalf of the Medical Geography Study Group and received financial support from the
North West Regional Health Authority.
In addition to these activities, the Newsletter has continued to evolve in the hands of its new editor,
Paul Boyle, and a lot of work has also been undertaken behind the scenes in preparation for the launch of
the new International Journal of Population Geography in September. The Study Group has invited
colleagues from the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy and the USA to Dundee to participate in a major international
conference on ' The Place of Population Geography' to mark the publication of the first issue of the new
journal. Finally, the Study Group is very grateful to Tony Champion (Newcastle) for his contribution to the
Study Group as Chairman during his three years in office.
John Stillwell University of Leeds