1. How have improvements in transportation and communication technology influenced the spatial distribution of manufacturing and business services?

2. Why do companies move manufacturing plants from core countries to periphery and semiperiphery countries?

1. What is the difference between outsourcing and offshoring, and how do companies benefit from each?

2. How does reshoring differ from offshoring, and what factors encourage companies to reshore jobs?

3. How does the Boeing 787 Dreamliner example demonstrate outsourcing, offshoring, and the international division of labor?

1. How has globalization and increased competition led to economic restructuring in core countries?

2. What is the new international division of labor and how does it differ across core, semiperiphery, and periphery countries?

1. What is the difference between basic and non-basic economic activities, and why are basic activities sometimes called city-forming?

2. Why are community leaders in core countries concerned about the loss of manufacturing jobs to offshoring?

3. How do quaternary sector jobs differ from tertiary sector jobs in terms of their economic impact on communities?

1. What are export-processing zones and what incentives do countries offer to attract transnational and multinational corporations?

2. How do tax breaks in EPZs protect existing local businesses while attracting foreign corporations?

3. What are the different names for special manufacturing zones in different regions, and how have their functions evolved?

1. How did NAFTA affect the growth of maquiladoras in Mexico, and why has their number declined in recent years?

2. Why were maquiladoras originally located near the United States-Mexico border?

1. What are free-trade zones and where are they typically located?

1. What are the main criticisms and defenses of EPZs regarding worker treatment and wages?

2. How has employment in EPZs affected the role of women in society, particularly regarding economic independence and birth rates?

1. What characterizes a postindustrial economy and how does it differ from an industrial economy?

1. How did Henry Ford's assembly line system change manufacturing, and what is Fordism?

2. What is the substitution principle and how has automation applied this principle to the labor force?

3. How does the post-Fordist system differ from Fordism in terms of worker flexibility and production adaptability?

1. How does mechanization create economies of scale and what are the long-term benefits for companies?

2. What is the relationship between increased industrial output and declining industrial employment in the United States?

1. What is just-in-time delivery and what are its advantages and risks for manufacturers?

1. What is locational interdependence and how does it encourage businesses to cluster together?

2. How do agglomeration economies benefit both manufacturing and retail businesses?

1. What is a technopole and what characteristics make certain locations attractive for technology companies?

2. How do technopoles function as growth poles and what are spin-off benefits and backwash effects?

3. What is cumulative causation and how does it strengthen the economic pull of growth poles?

1. What are brownfields and why is the Rust Belt associated with deindustrialization?

1. How do corporate parks and business parks reflect the postindustrial landscape and agglomeration economies?

1. How has remote work changed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and what impacts might this have on the built environment?

1. What is sustainability and sustainable development, and at what scales can sustainability principles be applied?

1. What is an ecological footprint and how does it measure environmental impact?

2. Why do people with greater wealth typically have larger ecological footprints?

1. What is resource depletion and how have farmers and societies responded to the depletion of natural resources?

1. What are the different causes of pollution and how does it originate from both natural and human sources?

2. What are the global health and economic impacts of pollution?

3. Why is pollution difficult to control when it crosses political boundaries?

1. How did the Clean Air Act of 1970 address the problem of acid rain and what were its positive outcomes?

1. What is the scientific consensus on the causes of climate change and what are predicted consequences?

2. How do core and non-core countries differ in their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

1. What is ecotourism and how can it promote sustainable development?

2. What are the risks and challenges associated with ecotourism in fragile ecosystems?

1. What were the Millennium Development Goals and what did they accomplish?

2. How do the Sustainable Development Goals differ from the Millennium Development Goals?

3. How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals?

1. How are the Sustainable Development Goals interconnected and why is success in one goal dependent on others?

2. How did Mexico City's bus rapid transit system address multiple Sustainable Development Goals?