Changing places key terms Flashcards
Locale
This is the place where something happens or is set, or that has particular events associated with it.
Location
‘Where’ a place is, for example the coordinates on a map.
eg. Epsom is located at 51.3° N, 0.2° W
Perception of place
This is the way in which a place is viewed or regarded by people. This can be influenced by media representation or personal experience.
Place
Defined as a location with meaning. Places can be meaningful to individuals in ways that are personal or subjective. Places can also be meaningful at a social or cultural level and these meanings may be shared by different groups of people.
Placemaking
The deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve a community’s quality of life.
Sense of place
This refers to the subjective and emotional attachment people have to a place. People develop a ‘sense of place’ through experience and knowledge of a particular area.
Agents of change
These are the people who impact on a place whether through living, working or trying to improve that place. Examples would include residents, community groups, corporate entities, central and local government and the media.
Endogenous factors
In the context of place, this refers to the characteristics of the place itself or factors which have originated internally. This would include aspects such as location, physical geography, land use and social and economic characteristics such as population size and employment rates.
Exogenous factors
This refers to the relationship of one place with other places and the external factors which affect this. The demographic, socio-economic and cultural characteristics of a place are shaped by shifting flows of people, resources, money and investment.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure relates to the services considered essential to enable or enhance living conditions. These primarily consist of transport communications (roads, railways, canals, and/or airports), communications infrastructure (broadband and phone networks) and services such as water supply, sewers and electrical grids. They may also include infrastructure such as the local education system, healthcare provision, local government and law enforcement, as well as emergency services.
Meaning
Meaning relates to individual or collective perceptions of place.
Media
Means of communication including television, film, photography, art, newspapers, books, songs, etc. These reach or influence people widely.
Objective
Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.
Qualitative data
Information that is non-numerical and used in a relatively unstructured and open-ended way. It is descriptive information, which often comes from interviews, focus groups or artistic depictions such as photographs. Some types of qualitative data, such as interviews, can be coded and may then be subject to quantitative analysis.
Quantitative data
Data that can be quantified and verified, and is amenable to statistical manipulation
