5.2 How do we understand place? Flashcards
5.2 How do we understand place?
Key idea ➡ People see, experience and understand place in different ways and this can change over time.
What is meant by ‘place’?
A place can have an objective meaning: something that just is, such as an address, or a set of map co-ordinates. But it can also have a subjective meaning: some aspect of a place that humans have added for whatever reason.
Example - What is meant by ‘place’?
10 Downing Street is a fixed location that can be plotted exactly on a map. However, it is also the official residence for the Prime Minister of the UK. As such it represents the focus of political power so has meaning in terms of how this country is governed. It also has a political meaning internationally as heads of government from overseas visit the PM there.
What is meant by ‘space’?
‘Space’ is different from ‘place’. Space exists between places and does not have the meanings that places do. However, one person’s ‘space’ might be another person’s ‘place’, e.g. The North Atlantic Ocean is a workplace to deep-sea fishermen.
Example - What is meant by ‘space’?
Think of two places, one where you live and the other a major city, such as New York. Where you live has significant meaning for you in a variety of different ways. It is where you live, study and enjoy recreation. This contrasts with New York. Page 147.
However, one person’s ‘space’ might be another person’s ‘place’. The North Atlantic Ocean is a workplace to deep-sea fishermen. It is a corridor along which large numbers of cargo ships sail. The crews of these ships have an understanding of the currents, winds and wave patterns which they routinely encounter. Pages 147-148.
The perception of place
We do not see the world around us in the same way as others. How we experience the world influences our perceptions of it.
Factors influencing perceptions
-Age
-Gender
-Sexuality
-Religion
-Role
Factors influencing perceptions definition
Perception is an individual thing so people’s personal characteristics influence how they see the world. Key factors that influence perceptions can include age, gender, sexuality, religion and role in society.
This last factor is closely related to education and socio-economic status.
Age (Factors influencing perceptions)
People’s perceptions change as they get older. Think of how perceptions of the same place, a local park for example, might alter through time. Page 148.
Many people move through a ‘life cycle’ that involves changing their residence and therefore where they might live.
Life cycle
The process that involves changing their residence and therefore where they might live. Such moves are often associated with changes to income or family size.
Gender (Factors influencing perceptions)
In different societies, the roles men and women have are reflected in the way the two groups can move around and the types of places they can use.
Traditionally, many places have been defined as being ‘male’ or ‘female’.
Page 148.
Sexuality (Factors influencing perceptions)
Sexuality can influence the way in which people use places. As the acceptance of different sexual orientations becomes more widespread, some places acquire a meaning because they are where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups (LGBT) tend to cluster.
Page 149.
Religion (Factors influencing perceptions)
People have given locations spiritual meanings for millennia. Some natural landscape features are sacred to certain human groups. The giant mass of sandstone Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the centre of Australia has a major role in the in Aboriginal creation stories.
Pages 149-150.
Role (Factors influencing perceptions)
Each of us performs a variety of roles at different times. For example, as a sixth former, you are a student for much of the time.
The role we have at any one time can influence our perceptions of a location and how we behave. As we go through life we gain and lose roles as we change, so do our attitudes and our perceptions of places.
Page 150.
The influence of emotional attachment to place
People remember places in many different ways. Memory is a personal thing because our experiences are unique to us. Our memories are also highly selective: we remember some things and forget others. If we have positive experiences of a place we are likely to have strong emotional attachments to that place and vice versa. It is not just our personal experiences that influence how we feel about places. Memory and feelings are also social.
Page 150.
How globalisation and time-space compression can influence a sense of place
-Globalisation
-‘Global village’
Page 152.
Globalisation (How globalisation and time-space compression can influence a sense of place)
Globalisation is the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the world, economically, socially, politically and culturally.
In terms of a sense of place, it is a set of forces that are changing the ways in which people experience and understand places, both familiar and unfamiliar. As with many changes, different places and people are affected in different ways by globalisation.
‘Global village’ (How globalisation and time-space compression can influence a sense of place)
The term ‘global village’ is used to convey the idea that the world has become smaller, not in a physical sense but because of its greater inter-connectedness. Communications and the flow of goods are quicker and more reliable than ever before. Capital moves around the globe at the press of a key. More people travel further and with increasing frequency.
Page 152.
Winners and losers (How globalisation and time-space compression can influence a sense of place)
Advantages from time-space compression are not available equally to all people. For those who are able to manipulate time-space compression to their own advantage, their sense of place probably does fit the idea of the ‘global village’.
However, there are those who are not able to gain much from the shrinking of the world and who are more controlled than controlling.
Page 152.
Ways of representing place
-Informal ways of representing place (e.g. Television, film, music, art, photography, literature, graffiti and blogs).
-Formal ways of representing places (e.g. Census, road network, the location of victims of Ebola or the distribution of different soil types).
Ways of representing place definition
The way in which a place is represented by the media influences how we feel about that place. Media agencies can be divided into formal and informal categories.
The best-known formal agency is a census. The informal category includes a great diversity of media such as television, film, music and art.
Informal ways of representing places (Ways of representing place)
Television and film play major roles in representing place offering sounds as well as sights. The lens of the camera can give different views of places.
Page 153.
Formal ways of representing places (Ways of representing place)
-Census
-Representing rural places
Formal ways of representing places definition (Ways of representing place)
Vast quantities of data are collected and stored, much of it spatial. Such data are invaluable in representing places, allowing them to be described and investigated.
Census (Formal ways of representing places (Ways of representing place))
In 1801 England and Wales held its first census of population. Thereafter the census was completed every ten years, continuing without a break (apart from in 1941).
The basic source of data is the household. A household is defined as: one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share facilities.
Up-to-date census data are an essential element for government planning and the allocation of resources to areas, such as schools, health care facilities and housing.
Pages 153-154.
Representing rural places (Formal ways of representing places (Ways of representing place))
The conventional view is that rural communities possess a number of characteristics that distinguish them from urban places:
-Closely knit, supportive community where everyone knows everyone else.
-More conservative and traditional in views.
-More homogeneous ethnically.
-Less mobility, both spatially and socially.
Pages 154-155.
