Changing Places Flashcards
Place?
Place is made of 3 different aspects:
- Locale – This is the place where something happens or is associated with certain events e.g. office, park, or church. We behave in a particular way in these places according to social rules we understand
- Sense of place – emotional meanings a place has to someone
- Location - the physical point of where a place is - longitude and latitude
Different groups or individuals may have a different sense 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
How does place affect identity?
Identity:
Place shapes who we are in three different ways:
1. Local: This is the emotional connection you feel for a smaller area e.g. neighbourhood or town —> For example, you might feel attached to your hometown because of the memories you’ve made there, the people you know, and the comfort of familiar surroundings
2. Regional: This is the emotional connection you feel for a larger area where people share traits e.g. Yorkshire - share history, accents and tradition etc
3. National: This is the emotional connection to a nation e.g. feeling proud to be British
Insider and outsiders?
Insider - someone who is familiar with a place and who feels welcome in that place e.g. they feel that they belong there
- e.g. residents of a country, who all share the same cultural values, may feel like insiders in that country
Outsider - someone who feels unfamiliar with a place and who feels unwelcome in that place e.g. they don’t feel that they belong there
- e.g. international immigrants, who don’t share the same cultural values as the residents of a country, may feel like outsiders in the country they move to
Factors that can make a person feel like an insider or an outsider?
- Age, gender and religion etc (if similar then you’re more likely to feel like an insider)
Sense of place can change because:
- Personal factors- attachment to a place grows stronger over time. As you have more experiences in a place, you are more likely to be attached with that place
- External factors- those living in a place for a long time may begin to feel like an outsider due to gentrification e.g. new establishments will bring an influx of wealthier people which may make those who are poorer living nearby feel like outsiders
Experienced, media, near and far places?
- Experienced places - places people have been to and spent time in. Sense of place is influenced by their visitation there
- Media places - places that people have not been to, but have created a sense of place for through the media e.g. books, art and films
- A person’s sense of a media place can be very different to the lived experience of the same place. This is because the media may present a place in a particular way and for a particular purpose e.g. tourist websites may present holiday destinations such as the Caribbean as a place of relaxation, but the reality for people who live there may be that it is a place of poverty and hardship
Examples:
- If you have only experienced New York through the film Home Alone 2, your emotional attachment may be more positive as it is filmed as a beautiful city with pretty lights and grand skyscrapers
- Through holiday brochures, Cornwall may seem like a happy, healthy place with a close-knit community. However, in reality 90% of neighbourhoods are more deprived than the rest of the UK. 210 people die unnecessarily from the cold every year, 74,000 experience bad health
- Despite being the UK’s “second capital city”, most people deem the city of Birmingham as unsafe and dull. The TV show Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham. The storyline follows a family of gangsters committing crimes which cements in the minds of viewers that Birmingham is a dangerous place
- Near places - places geographically near to where a person lives
- Far places - places distant from where a person lives
- People are more likely to feel like insiders in near places, as they are more likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them
- Not all people will feel like insiders in all geographically near places though - people may feel excluded from near places for many reasons e.g. their age, gender, sexuality etc
- People are more likely to feel like outsiders in far places, as they are less likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them
- Not all people will feel like outsiders in distant places - Movies, shows, and books often provide detailed descriptions of places, including their culture, language, and way of life. This can make people feel like they “know” the place, making them feel like insiders// Seeing familiar brands like McDonald’s can give a feeling of familiarity —> feel more like an insider
Globalisation/Clone towns/Placelessness
Placelessness - globalisation making distant places look and feel the same
Positives of globalisation:
- Enhances the character of a place —> attracts a wide range of people from different demographic backgrounds as everyone is familiar with it —> e.g. mcdonald’s is known across the globe —> improves cultural diversity of an area
- Well known stores —> attract people to move into the area —> regeneration of urban areas —> solves problem of inner city decline
- While places might look alike, the feelings people create there are what make the town special e.g. meeting friends, going out with family —> these personal experiences help make a place feel unique to them (not a positive of globalisation but a point to counteract why globalisation isn’t bad)
Negatives of globalisation:
- Has eroded local cultures and produced homogenised places —> this can be seen through the presence of global chains such as Starbucks and McDonalds —> creates clone towns —> clones towns look just like each other —> locals will be frustrated especially if they have a strong attachment to their town/city
Example:
- Totnes is a town in South Devon. In 2012 Costa tried to open a store in the area. Within weeks of the proposal, the towns population signed a petition to show they wanted to support their local independent shops and would not shop at any coffee chain that came to town —> shows that the people have a strong connection towards Totnes and do not want it to be changed
Endogenous and Exogenous factors that influence the character of a place
Places constantly changing due to external factors?
- Places are constantly changing
- The original character of many places has changed because of the external flows that have occurred over time e.g. flows of people, resources, money and ideas
- In recent history, flows of people, money, resources and ideas between places have increased - this is because of improvements to transport, which have made it easier for people and goods to be transported, and communications (e.g. internet), which allow people to communicate with anyone else on the planet instantly —> these flows have caused more places to become more strongly connected to each other —> places are becoming more globalised (idea of placelessness)
How have external flows affected the demographic characteristics of places?
- Demographic characteristics are to do with who lives in a place and what they’re like - e.g. age, gender, education level, religion and ethnicity etc
Flows of people can change the demographic characteristics of a place e.g. age or gender balance
- E.g. on a local scale, younger people have been leaving the town of Uckfield in East Sussex —> unable to afford house prices in the area, leaving an increasingly high proportion of older people
- On an international scale, large-scale migration from North Africa to Europe that started in 2015 has altered the gender balance of some towns, as a high proportion of the migrants are male
Flows of money and investment
- E.g. governments can invest money in specific places in order to attract people to live there —> for example, the London Docklands Development Corporation was a group set up by the government in 1981 to reverse inner city decline —> resulted in an increase in population size (between 1981 and the early 21st century the population more than doubled)
Flows of ideas and resources
- ideas such as the use of birth control can flow to new places and affect their demographic characteristics e.g. by reducing the birth rate and affecting the population size
- many of the poorest countries in the world have the lowest usage of birth control and rapid population growth —> international organisations such as the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) have been set up to spread knowledge and ideas about birth control, as well as supplying resources to aid birth control e.g. condoms
How have external flows affected the cultural characteristics of places?
- Cultural characteristics of places are to do with how people live their lives e.g. food, clothing, traditions, language, and beliefs/values people have etc
Flows of people
- New people moving to a place, or even visiting it, bring their culture with them —> can change the characteristics of the place e.g. in the 20th century, the UK experienced mass international migrations from India and Pakistan and other common wealth countries —> this has created multi-ethnic communities in many places —> greater mix of languages spoken, religions practised and foods eaten
Flows of money, investment and ideas
- New cultural ideas introduced to places can change the characteristics of those places e.g. fast food companies from the USA like KFC, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut opened in China in the 1980s and 1990s and have grown rapidly since —> It is thought that eating habits have changed in China as a result, with increasing numbers of people favouring western-style fast food over traditional Chinese food
Hoq have external flows affected the economic characteristics of places?
- The economic characteristics of places are to do with work and money e.g. income, employment rates and the types of job available
Flows of people
- People visiting places can change the economic characteristics of those places e.g. St Ives in Cornwall used to be a fishing settlement, but is now a popular tourist destination —> The flows of tourism (combined with a decline in the fishing industry) have altered the types of jobs available in the area to service-based jobs e.g. hospitality, shops and restaurants
Flows of resources
- The outward flow of local products/natural resources from a place can have a large impact on local economies —> local products/natural resources can be sold to global markets e.g. the Scottish whisky industry has grown to be one of the largest industries in Scotland due to international exports —> this has brought employment and money to a wide range of places across Scotland
Flows of money and investment
- Flows of money having a negative impact on economic characteristics of places —> e.g. reduced investment and competition from global markets has led to the decline of some primary industries in the UK (deindustrialisation) —> decline of steel industry in Sheffield led to 3 million people being unemployed
- Inward flows of investment can have positive effects on economic characteristics of places e.g. investment in the finance industries in London has created many high value service sector jobs and made it a wealthy place
How have external flows affected the social characteristics and inequalities of places?
- The social characteristics of places are to do with what people’s lives are like e.g. their overall quality of life, their access to adequate food supplies, healthcare, education, sanitation, leisure facilities etc
- Social inequalities are the differences in these factors between different groups of people
Flows of people
- Regional migration from rural areas to urban areas in poorer countries has changed social characteristics and levels of social inequality
- E.g. in India, large-scale rural to urban migration has resulted in slums developing in cities such as Mumbai —> migrants often have a very low quality of life, without access to electricity, sanitation or clean water —> this contrasts with the high quality of life that wealthier residents in these cities have —> inequality gap is widening
Flows of resources
- The outward flow of natural resources from poorer countries impact social inequality e.g. large amounts of oil are extracted around Warri in Nigeria then exported round the world —> most of the wealth that is generated goes to a few individuals who have a high quality of life —> large numbers of people remain in poverty with a very low quality of life —> inequality widens
Flows of money and investment
- The process of gentrification has improved the social characteristics of some places, but it can also increase inequality e.g. Notting Hill was once one of the most deprived areas in London, but now has much lower levels of deprivation —> however social inequality between the wealthy newcomers and existing poorer residents has increased
How can external forces affect the demographic, cultural, economic and social characteristics of places?
Government policies:
- Governments can affect the demographic characteristics of places e.g. by introducing policies to control population. In China, the one-child policy was introduced as a method to reduce rapid population growth, but in France the government introduced policies (such as lower taxes and better maternity leave conditions) to increase the birth rate.
- Other government policies can affect the cultural characteristics of places e.g. by controlling immigration. For example, in the 1960s the German government invited Turkish people to live and work in Germany. As a result, aspects of Turkish culture have become a part of German culture e.g. Turkish fast food outlets are common across Germany, Turkish is the second most widely spoken language and Islam is widely practised.
- Some government policies can affect the demographic, economic and social characteristics of places. For example, the Hulme City Challenge Partnership —> scheme led to an increase in the population in the area, created jobs, reduced unemployment and increased quality of life for some residents
Decisions of transnational corporations:
- The decisions of TNCs can have major impacts on the demographic, social and economic characteristics of places. For example, Detroit (in the USA) was a major global centre of car manufacturing in the early and mid 20th century, with TNCs such as Ford and General Motors located there
- TNCs gave the city a massive economic boost —> large numbers of jobs were created —> this altered the demographic characteristics of the city by attracting large numbers of migrants —> the population grew to around 2 million in the 1950s
- After the 1950s, many of the manufacturing TNCs closed or relocated factories to places with cheaper labour e.g. Mexico —> this led to population decline (population of Detroit had reduced to around 700 000), high employment (25% of the workforce in Detroit was unemployed) and social deprivation (Detroit has some of the highest crime rates in the USA)
Impacts of international or global institutions:
- Since 2015, there has been increased conflict in Yemen so the World Food Programme distributed food aid to millions which prevented death from starvation —> kept the population up —> impacted social and demographic characteristics of places
- From 2010 to 2016, the World Bank funded the Ningbo New Countryside Development Project in China which provided water aid to 144 villages. This impacted social and demographic characteristics of china —> deaths were prevented so population increased and quality of life improved
Relationships and connections
Perception of place?
Perception of a place
- Places have different meanings to different people (known as sense of place) —> e.g. individuals may perceive the same location differently —> one might think it’s beautiful and one might think it’s unattractive
What affects someone perception of a place?
- How people feel about a place is often dependent on their experience of that place e.g. people may feel like insiders or outsiders in a place depending on whether their experience of that place has been positive or negative
- How people feel about places can also be affected by how places have been represented to them (sources of representation)
- Individuals who are proud to come from a place may present it to others in a positive way, whilst individuals who have had a bad experience of a place may present it negatively to others —> affects someone’s perception of place
Different people will aim to manage the perception of place:
These include:
- National and local governments —> adopt strategies to manipulate perception of place in order to attract people and investment to a place —> rebranding, marketing and reimaging
- Corporate bodies (e.g. businesses and tourist agencies) —> aim to attract visitors by promoting a positive image of a place —> use websites, advertisements and slogans etc
- Community and local groups —> might try to change the perception of their place to improve the local economy or the lives of local people e.g. local people and business owners in Ludlow promote the town through organising a food festival every year - this associates Ludlow with good food and attracts visitors to the area
Place Marketing
- Marketing companies may be employed to produce websites, design logos, run advertising campaigns and social media pages - all of which are designed to promote a particular place. e.g. the Lake District is being promoted as the ‘Adventure Capital’ of the UK through a website and related social media pages which have details of all the available activities in the area
Rebranding
- Giving a place a new identity that is appealing to people and investors. It is achieved through reimaging, place marketing and regeneration schemes
Reimaging
- Changing existing negative perceptions of places and generating positive feelings and attitudes towards a place —> e.g. in the 1980s and 1990s some people’s image of Birmingham was that it was a place of high unemployment, abandoned factories and poor architecture. Many places in Birmingham have been reimaged by turning old industrial areas into new developments e.g. Brindleyplace is a former industrial site that has been repurposed into a town centre mixed development that include shops, offices, residential areas, restaurants, bars, a gallery and a theatre
Example of rebranding in Leeds:
Why did Leeds need rebranding?
- Deindustrialisation led to job losses and the decline of Leeds —> people have a negative perception of Leeds (negative sense of place)
Successes?
- Trinity Leeds shopping centre opened in 2013 —> attracted many people back into the area as jobs were created —> as a result, this has led to economic growth within Leeds
- Clarence Dock waterfront area was rebranded and redeveloped with new office spaces, residential buildings, and entertainment venues —> economic growth
Challenges?
- Economic divide —> rebranding attempts often prioritise city centre developments while more deprived neighbourhoods may see little benefit —> city centre becomes richer and deprived neighbourhoods become poorer —> exacerbate economic inequality
- Gentrification —> more people have moved into Leeds —> property prices have increase —> displacement of low-income residents —> social segregation
Representations of place?
Places Can be Represented Using a Variety of Different Forms
- Quantitative - they can be quantified numerically e.g. graphs and charts
- Qualitative — they can’t be quantified numerically and may be more descriptive or creative e.g. art, poetry and photography
- Different forms can create contrasting representations of places. When investigating places, it’s important to look at a variety of different sources to build up a complete picture of what a place is like
Statistics
- Statistics e.g. census data —> lots of quantitative information about what places are like, e.g. population, population structure, average income, crime figures etc
- Quantitative data doesn’t tell us about someone’s sense of place —> e.g. data may show an area as poor and derelict but this does not reflect residents opinions of their place
Maps
- Maps can be used to show where physical features are —> physical features are key to a place’s character
- They can also show quantitative data e.g. unemployment rates, crime rates etc —> contributes to the character of a place but doesn’t tell us about someone’s sense of place
- Some maps can also show qualitative information e.g. levels of happiness —> these may be more helpful than quantitative maps as they tell us about sense of place
Films, photography and art
- Visual representations show what places look like, and can give some sense of what a place is like
- Art - only represents what the artist wants to show you, and can therefore be misleading
- Photographs - only show what a place looks like in a given moment - photographs taken at different times of day can make a place look and feel different. Photographs can also be altered so places look different to the reality
- Films and television can portray the same place in a different light e.g. a crime drama set in a city might give a different sense of place to a romantic drama set in the same city.
Stories, articles, music and poetry
- Written representations can be used to describe places, and can give us a sense of what it’s like to be in that place. They usually only offer the perspective of the author though, so they don’t show a complete picture
Example of sources of representation in Singapore:
- Located in South East Asia
Facts:
- Singapore is one of the safest cities in the world
- Singapore is a diverse city — 74% Chinese, 15% Malay, and 7% Indian
- Singapore recycles approximately 60% of its total waste
Advertising:
- Creates an appealing image to encourage tourism and investment —> focus on the best aspects of the city while downplaying the less desirable features —> leads to a biased representation
- Websites like visitsingapore.com portray Singapore in a positive light —> includes photos of iconic landmarks like Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay
* These advertisements rarely show:
* Crowded streets or urban congestion
* High cost of living which affects both residents and tourists
* Weather challenges, such as the hot and humid conditions
