Topics covered include the geography of indigenous and invasion Australia; patterns and consequences of economic and cultural diffusion and change; socio-economic impacts of industrial change; emergence of global information economies, telecommunications networks; landscapes of production and consumption; transformations of gender roles and influences of feminism; changing patterns and impacts of migration; re-assessments of national identity, multiculturalism, and reconciliation; the global diffusion of popular culture and the reaction in Australia; impacts of globalisation on material well-being and cultural diversity; introduction to spatial analysis and GIS with particular emphasis on economic and social patterns and change.

Workshops, field trips and skills development further contribute to an understanding of contemporary urbanisation.

Note: Due to revisions of Geography at UNSW, all courses previously offered as GEOH1601 have been given an equivalent course code GEOS1601 from semester 1, 2007.