2.1.1 The Concept of Place

Question 1

What are the three meanings of “place”?

Answer 1

• Location
• Locale
• Sense of place

Question 2

Location

Answer 2

Where a place is physically located (e.g. using latitude and longitude).

Question 3

Locale

Answer 3

Where everyday life takes place – the built environment, people, culture and customs.

Question 4

Sense of place

Answer 4

The subjective and emotional meanings a place has to an individual.

Question 5

What is our attachment to place influenced by?

Answer 5

The quality or intensity of experiences we have there.

Our attachment to place is subjective - Different groups or individuals may have a different sense of place of the same place. For example, one person may think of a city centre as a place of excitement and opportunity, whilst another person may think of it as a place of stress.

Question 6

What is identity?

Answer 6

Where individuals share characteristics that they feel bind them together as a group, creating a shared identity for all the people from that place.

Question 7

Localism

Answer 7

An affection with a particular place. e.g. The Manchester Bee.

Question 8

Regionalism

Answer 8

Loyalty to a distinct region with a population that shares similarities. e.g. The Geordie Accent.

Question 9

Nationalism

Answer 9

Loyalty and devotion to a country/state, which creates a sense of patriotism. e.g. Scottish Independence.

Question 10

Nimbyism

Answer 10

“Not in my back yard”.

e.g. “I like wind turbines but not in my village!”.

Question 11

What is an insider?

Answer 11

Someone who is familiar with a place and who feels welcome in that place (they feel like they belong there). E.g. Residents of a country, who all share the same culture, may feel like insiders in that country.

Question 12

What is an outsider?

Answer 12

Someone who is unfamiliar with a place and who feels unwelcome and out of place there. They do not know the rhythms and routines of the place. E.g. An elderly person might feel like an outsider in a nightclub.

Question 13

What are some examples of reasons that might make you feel like an outsider?

Answer 13

E.g. Age, sexuality, gender. For example, a young person might feel like an outsider in a retirement home, and an elderly person might feel like an outsider in a nightclub.

Question 14

Example of an insider perspective

Answer 14

Paul Abbott’s Shameless | An insider perspective of a council estate in Manchester (where the programme was set)

Question 15

Example of an outsider perspective

Answer 15

BAME visitors to National Parks | A recent survey revealed that only 1% of visitors to National Parks in the UK are from a BAME background – although they make up 10% of the population.

Question 16

What was the charity that works to encourage BAME people to come to National Parks?

Answer 16

Mosaic

Question 17

Experienced places

Answer 17

Places that people have spent time in. When a person visits or lives in a place their experiences, such as the things they see and the people they meet, shape their sense of that place.

Question 18

Media places

Answer 18

Media places are places that people have not been to, but have created a sense of place for through their depiction in the media. (e.g. Book or film)

Question 19

Case study for experienced and media places

Answer 19

The Rural Idyll

Question 20

Near places

Answer 20

Places that are geographically close to where a person lives.

Question 21

Far places

Answer 21

Places that are geographically distant from where a person lives.

Question 22

Are people more likely to feel like outsiders in near or far places?

Answer 22

Far places - as they are less likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them.

Question 23

Are people more likely to feel like outsiders in near or far places?

Answer 23

Far places - as they are less likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them.

Question 24

How has globalisation affected people’s experience of near and far places?

Answer 24

• Improvements in travel mean that far places are quicker to get to, and can therefore be experienced more easily and frequently.
• Improvements in IT mean that people can be very familiar with media places – places they have no lived experiences of.
• People can remain closely connected with people and activities in far places using technology and the internet.

Question 25

What does ‘placelessness’ refer to?

Answer 25

How globalisation is making places look and feel the same.

Question 26

Example of a far place that feels near

Answer 26

Australia and New Zealand share similar culture and history but are geographically far away.