Robert B. Kent, PhD, is Department Chair and the James H. Ring Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at the California State University, Northridge, and Professor Emeritus of Geography and Planning at the University of Akron. Much of his research and publications have focused on the human geography of Latin America, especially the Andes and Central America, and on the evolving geography of Latin Americans in the United States. His areas of expertise include urban planning, regional development, cultural geography, and cartography. Dr. Kent has traveled, lived, and worked throughout Latin America, including nearly 3 years spent as an urban and regional planner in Peru for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He served as a consultant for USAID in Bolivia on numerous occasions. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Nacional de San Juan in San Juan, Argentina, and at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and also spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón de la Plana, Spain. Dr. Kent is a recipient of the Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award from the Conference of Latin American Geographers (CLAG). He is a past chair of CLAG and is currently its treasurer and a member of its board of directors. He also has been a councilor and treasurer of the Association of American Geographers.
1. Introduction
2. Latin America as a Culture Region
3. The Environment
4. The Hispanic Caribbean
5. Peopling Latin America to 1820
6. The Mesa Central of Mexico
7. Early Cities and Urban Development
8. The Andes
9. Migration, Population Change, and Race
10. The Central Valley of Chile
11. The Central American Highlands
12. Land and People since the Conquest
13. Brazil's Atlantic Coastal Plain
14. Contemporary Cities and Urban Patterns
15. The Southern Brazilian Highlands
16. Latin American Development in Perspective
17. The Pampa
18. Latin America in the World Economy
19. The Amazon Basin
20. The Latin American Diaspora
21. Conclusion
Chapter References
