Changing Places Flashcards
What 3 aspects of place do geographers refer to?
Location, locale and sense of place
Example of aspects of place: Glastonbury
Location: in the county of Somerset. Located 23 miles south of Bristol. Latitude: 51.1456N and longitude: 2.7144W. Situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset levels.
Locale: it is home to a number of visitor attractions including Glastonbury abbey and Glastonbury Tor(described by TNT as being ‘one of the most spiritual sites in the country. It’s pagan beliefs are still very much celebrated. It’s a beautiful place to walk, unwind and relax.’
Sense of place: Glastonbury is a place of great spiritual importance for people interested in paganism, religious connections or the King Arthur affiliation. Also evokes emotions about the internationally famous music festival(takes place most years at Worthy farm in Pilton on the edge of Glastonbury)
Define location
‘Where’ a place is,e.g. the coordinates on a map
What is locale?
Takes into account the effect that people have on their setting. In terms of locale a place is shaped by the people, cultures and customs within.
Define sense of place
Refers to the subjective and emotional attachment people have to a place
Consider the different definitions of place:
- those in planning, place may refer to the built environment
- artists and writers attempt to evoke place in their work
- philosophers, place may be a way of being-in-the-world
What is perception of place?
The way in which place is viewed/regarded by people. This can be influenced by media representation or personal experience.
Define place
A location with meaning
Define placemaking
The deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve a community’s quality of life
What is a descriptive approach to place?
The idea that the world is a set of places and each place can be studied and is distinct
What is a social constructionist approach to place?
Sees place as a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time.
E.g. Trafalgar Square was built to commemorate a British Navy victory in the 1800s and using this approach it could be understood as a place of empire and colonisation.
What is a phenomenological approach to place?
Not interested in unique characteristics of a place or why it was constructed. Instead in how an individual person experiences place, recognising a highly personal relationship between place and person.
What term did Yi-Fu Tuan develop and what did it describe?
Topophilia describes the affective bond between people and place and argued that it’s through human perception and experience that we get to know a place.
Bourneville village
Agents of change- individuals: the Cadbury’s business was getting too big for factory it was housed in Birmingham city centre, therefore Cadbury’s brothers decided to find new home.
Impact of change- new village built with an idea of happy place with lots of green areas where no city pollution, became popular place to live when Cadbury’s became an even larger business, with waiting lists for the homes in the village
Flows: flows of people, moving in and out of village as well as dying of old age. Finite amount of houses so the inputs vs outputs roughly same in terms of population. Flow of money as house prices rise in value, as desirable place to live.
Devonport, Plymouth
A dockside area in Plymouth that was regenerated by the people who lived there. Once thriving, however due to coastal processes, it was decided the dockyard was not secure enough and put up a big wall. Surrounded dockyard but meant devonport lost most shops and overcrowded housing lead to degradation, crime, drug abuse, vandalism and neglect.
Agents of change: investment and ideas: using the new deals money and regeneration company of £48million, the doackyard wall was removed
Impact of change: new properties being developed and old ones pulled down. The waterfront area of devonport is becoming one of the most desirable areas in the city of plymouth.
