Changing places (concept of place)

Question 1

Define place:

Answer 1

A location which has different meanings to different people

Question 2

Define the aspects that characterise a place:

Answer 2

• Location
• Physical characteristics (e.g, topography)
• Locale - locations in a place associated with everyday life
• Flows in an out
• Sense of place = subjective and emotional attachment to a place

Question 3

Define placelessness:

Answer 3

A particular landscape ‘could be anywhere’ because it lacks uniqueness
- e.g, most high streets have a Costa
- clones towns due to dominance of chain shops

Question 4

What does the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan suggest about attachment?

Answer 4

Attachment to a place grows stronger over time
- e.g, through more experiences
- the greater the intensity (quality) and number of of experiences, the greater the depth of attachment
-

Question 5

Define Topophilia and Topophobia:

Answer 5

Topophilia = love of a place and having a strong attachment to it

Topophobia = dislike of a place

Question 6

Define Near and Far places:

Answer 6

Near = geographically near to us
- subjective
- likely to feel like insiders

Far = places that are distant
- likely to feel like outsiders
- may feel ‘far’ away emotionally even if physically close

Question 7

How has globalisation affected peoples peoples experience of geographical distance?

Answer 7

• improvements in travel technology = far places quicker to get to (experienced easily / frequently)
• improvements in ICT = people become familiar with media places
• people remain closely connected with people / activities far away

Question 8

Define experiences places:

Answer 8

Places we have actually visited
- experiences shape their sense of place
- stimulates our senses

Question 9

Define media places:

Answer 9

Places we have not visited but may have learned through media representations
- created a sense of place through media
- can change our sense of place subconsciously
- media presents places in a particular way for a particular purpose

Question 10

What is ‘Genius Loci’?

Answer 10

= the spirit of the place
- suggests every place has a unique spirit / atmosphere based on everything for the location it is made up of (now and in the past)
- often used in planning to describe the key characteristics
some ARGUE…
- place meanings are socially constructed
- e.g, the most widely held meanings benefit / are reproduced by the most powerful groups in society

Question 11

Define ‘Insiders’:

Answer 11

Someone who is familiar with a place and feels welcome in that place (sense of belonging)
- e.g residents of a country, share the same cultural values, fluent in local language etc

Question 12

Define ‘Outsiders’:

Answer 12

Someone who feels unwelcome / excluded from a place
- e.g, international migrants who don’t share the same cultural values / may not be familiar with norms, food, architecture etc

Question 13

What is ‘Identity’?

Answer 13

Many people create the sense of who they are based on the places they feel connected to

Question 14

What scales can a ‘shared identity’ be seen on?

Answer 14

Local (e.g, individuals from a village sharing a positive sense of that village)
Regional (e.g, sharing an accent)
National (e.g, individuals of a nation sharing a language, religion)

Question 15

Why do ethnic groups cluster?

Answer 15

People feel more at home surrounded by other people of the same ethnicity
- the area will adapt towards the culture over time = attracts more

Question 16

How can people be made to feel like outsiders through a change of perspective?

Answer 16

• large influxes of immigrants may change the characteristics
• e.g, the high street shops may change to cater for new cultures
  = makes original residents feel like outsiders

Question 17

How can gentrification cause insiders to feel like outsiders?

Answer 17

• entire districts change and adapt to suit a different audience = insiders may not fit in with the culture / class
• large scale regeneration = changes in place character (e.g, 2016 Stratford Olympics) - better quality of life can alter the demographics of an area