Abstract
This article advances a conceptualization of the rural–urban interface that is centred on a historically and spatially informed politics of place situated within local–global connections. The research is a case study of an inter-municipal development plan called Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Located near the City of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada, the study area has been characterized by tremendous social, cultural, and economic shifts over the past century, from agriculture, to country residential in-migration, to intensive industrial development in response to the increasing importance of Alberta on the global energy market. A series of interviews conducted with residents, political officials, and other stakeholders documents how parallel, yet contested definitions of the ‘Heartland’ underpinned a ‘politics of place’ over land use change at the rural–urban interface.
Dreams of the Eurasian Heartland: The Reemergence of Geopolitics
Popularized at the beginning of the twentieth century by an eccentric British geographer, Sir Halford Mackinder, geopolitics posits that the earth will forever be divided into two naturally antagonistic spheres: land and sea. In this model, the natural repository for global land power is the Eurasian “heartland” — the territory of the former Russian empire. Whoever controls the heartland, wrote Mackinder, will forever seek to dominate the Eurasian landmass and ultimately the world.
Dreams of the Eurasian Heartland: The Reemergence of Geopolitics
Popularized at the beginning of the twentieth century by an eccentric British geographer, Sir Halford Mackinder, geopolitics posits that the earth will forever be divided into two naturally antagonistic spheres: land and sea. In this model, the natural repository for global land power is the Eurasian “heartland” — the territory of the former Russian empire. Whoever controls the heartland, wrote Mackinder, will forever seek to dominate the Eurasian landmass and ultimately the world.
Heartland
Heartland is a family drama that airs on CBC TV on Sundays at 7:00 p.m. Based on novels published by Working Partners under the name Lauren Brooke, it premiered in 2007 and is the longest-running one-hour drama in Canadian history. Set on a family ranch called Heartland, the Alberta-shot series follows Amy Fleming’s (Amber Marshall) relationships with her family, with ranch hand Ty Borden (Graham Wardle) and her special abilities as a horse whisperer. Winner of five Directors Guild of Canada Awards for best family television series, Heartland has averaged more than 1 million viewers per episode and is broadcast in more than 100 countries.
