Changing Places - Meaning And Representation Flashcards
Define sense of place
The feelings of attachment we have to certain places we experience
For example by living and working there or visiting them
From these ‘real-life’ experiences and memories, we develop a sense of place
What shapes people’s sense of place?
Different people or groups can attach different meanings to the same places e.g. different people may think of the same place as beautiful/unattractive, exciting/boring, stressful/peaceful.
How people feel about a place is dependent on their experience - they may feel like insiders/outsiders in a place depending on whether their experience has been positive/negative.
What is perception of place?
Developed through what people have heard, seen or read about a place they may not have been to
What influences perception of place?
Level of wealth
Level of education
Age
Access to media
Amount of travel done
What are firstspace representations?
An attempt to understand a place in terms of quantitative analysis, looking at what is physically present in a place, and is measurable (e.g. demographic data and socio-economic data)
What are secondspace representations?
These are subjective accounts of personal experience and capture a sense of place in a way that firstspace accounts cannot
What are thirdspace representations?
One of most useful ways to understand a place
Both quantitative and qualitative data
In this way we can build a good image of what a place is like and how it is experienced and perceived
What are the 3 external agencies who try to manage / manipulate sense of place?
Governments
Corporate bodies
Community or other local groups
How do governments manage and manipulate sense of place?
National and local level strategies to attract people / investment to a place.
Include place marketing, re-branding and re-imaging
How do corporate bodies manage and manipulate sense of place?
An organisation / group identified by a particular name
Many will have an interest in place but some want to manipulate sense of place eg) tourist agencies aim to ‘sell’ a place to potential visitors.
Lots of corporate bodies called ‘visit….’ Eg) visit Harrogate Strategies to make a place look as good as it can and attract as many visitors as possible.
Airlines and train companies also seek to manage perceptions of place, to get people to use their travel services to visit these places, and therefore increase their own profit.
How do communities or local groups manage and manipulate sense of place?
Active role to improve local economy eg by attracting investment improve opportunities and services in the area.
Harrogate Christmas market organised by volunteers from the local community and businesses. Yorkshire food and gift products are sold and there are family attractions. key aims - to bring visitors into Harrogate to support local businesses, to raise money to contribute to other events and organisations that promote tourism in Harrogate.
Regeneration and rebranding strategies have increasingly involved local people, since they have the ‘insider’ experience of place and will be the people most affected by any changes.
social media is increasingly being employed to engage and involve local people in planning and place-making schemes.
What are the three main strategies used to alter perception of place?
Place marketing
Re-imaging
Rebranding
What is place marketing to alter perception of place?
How places are ‘sold’ like products to consumers - who will visit, move to the area or invest money there.
Marketing or PR contained may be employed by government to create positive perceptions of place and promote it.
The Lake District is being promoted as the ‘Adventure Capital’ of the UK through a websites and social media which have details of all the available activities in the area.
Liverpool was marketed and ‘sold’ as the European capital of culture in 2008 to attract investment into the city.
What is re-imaging to alter perception of place?
About changing existing negative perceptions of places. Aim to generate a new, positive set of ideas and feelings of people about the place
It is linked to rebranding
Examples of a place in the UK in the that has undergone re-imaging is Liverpool
(in the 1980s and 1990s) European capital of culture 2008
What is re-branding to alter perception of place?
Used to discard negative perceptions of a place
About giving a place a new identity that is appealing to people, investors and tourists
Achieved through reimaging, place marketing and regeneration schemes
Many places create logos and slogans designed to be instantly recognisable and create positive associations with the place they are representing.
What are some aims of rebranding?
Revive a pre-exisitng but outdated place image
Change a poor pre-existing place image
Differentiate an area from other places
Highlight the changes in character or activities of an area
All to attract new investment, shops, tourists and residents
