Spaces and Places

Question 1

Which characteristics make up a place profile?

Answer 1

Natural and built characteristics, demographics, cultural, , political, socio-economic

Question 2

Describe local, regional, national and international connections between places

Answer 2

Local - where students go to school or college, where people purchase everyday goods and services
Regional - commuting to work, specialist health services like large hospitals
National - Holidays, news gathered from the rest of the country, food imported
International - holidays abroad, family connections, food and clothing imported, global news

Question 3

What is life cycle stage?

Answer 3

The age and family status of a person, such as young adult, married with children, retired

Question 4

Why might an urban area receive an influx of young adults? Why might rural or coastal settlements receive an influx of older people?

Answer 4

Students or young professionals starting out their careers and living away from home
At retirement people wish to live more quietly and peacefully and prefer smaller peripheral settlements

Question 5

Why can people in ACs now live further away from their work (e.g. in smaller settlements)?

Answer 5

Increased car ownership and improved transport technologies make commuting from further much more possible

Question 6

How can resources shape a place profile?

Answer 6

Natural resources, e.g. availability of mineral resources may lead to the establishment of a mining community, or eventually heavy industry with concentrated populations of low-skilled workers. Oil availability may lead to the establishment of very affluent communities of businesspeople, e.g. in Dubai, which used to be a desert but is now a major city and tourist destination with skyscrapers and stuff - metropolis

Question 7

How can technology shape a place profile?

Answer 7

Rise in electronic communication has given great significance to quality of connectivity of a place - via internet applications and mobile phones, for example. Considerable differences in connectivity amongst different places, e.g. urban vs rural areas.

Question 8

What is glocalisation?

Answer 8

The practice of conducting business according to both local and global considerations

Question 9

What happens when a resource, or the advantages a resource gave a place go away?

Answer 9

The place experiences decline - environmental, socio-economic, cultural or political. This leads to the need for regeneration and rebranding - if gains access to new resource then an upward spiral of development can occur.

Question 10

Governments an important source of investment in a place (at a variety of scales). What are these scales?

Answer 10

Transnational - Organisations operating across international borders such as the UN and EU
National - organisation responsible for government within a sovereign country
Regional - depends on how country is organised, e.g. states in america, counties in UK
Local - e.g. town and parish councils responsible for small scale local matters

Question 11

What are clone high streets an example of?

Answer 11

Homogenisation - dominated by chain shops or TNCs found all over the country - little local investment and few local independent businesses survive

Question 12

What does post-industrial mean?

Answer 12

Manufacturing industry no longer dominates geography, economy or society - most employed people are in services

Question 13

What does the term ‘knowledge economy’ describe?

Answer 13

The activities which gather, store and analyse knowledge, e.g. high-tech manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, business services, design, education and health (tertiary and quaternary sectors)

Question 14

Why is knowledge economy increasingly important in shaping place profiles?

Answer 14

Cities at the top group of any heirarchy, e.g. world cities, tend to be actively involved in the knowledge economy and are thriving, lively places. Areas which are struggling to take advantage of the knowledge economy can have profiles suggesting stagnation or even decline - educational achievements of inhabitants are often what lead to levels of involvement in the knowledge economy

Question 15

What is the difference between objective and subjective and how does this relate to the idea of place?

Answer 15

Objective means not influenced by personal feelings or opinions, where as subjective is influenced by personal feelings and opinion. Places can have objective meaning - could be map coordinates or a location on a GPS system. They can also be given subjective meaning by people, e.g. if you follow a particular sports team that has a home ground with meaning to you, or have a favourite holiday destination associated with personal experiences, feelings and connections

Question 16

What is space (as opposed to place)?

Answer 16

It does not have subjective meaning and simply exists between places that do have meaning. Spaces for some people maybe places for others, it is all to do with personal experiences and connections.

Question 17

How can age influence perception of a place?

Answer 17

Perceptions of places change as you get older, and as you gain more experiences and connections. Older (or younger) people may perceive places differently than you.
Young adults need little space and often prefer to live where work is close by to save journey to work costs and where recreational leisure facilities (sports facilities, clubs, restaurants) are more available. Young married couples may feel they need more space, or a garden (e.g. for children and more leisure time at home) and place a higher value on access to schools, nurseries and open space such as parks. A retired person may just want peace and quiet.
Age may not be a factor (e.g. church or place of worship)

Question 18

How an gender influence perception of a place?

Answer 18

In past due to different roles in society - males occupied workplaces while females were focused on the home - divisions in society e.g. male domination of sporting places, although genders more equal in entertainment spaces such as cinemas and theatres
Greater equality between females and males has been emerging, which has also lead to the change in perceptions of places - many workplaces less male-dominated, greater diversity of roles open to females in service sector, and in science and engineering and STEM. Some workplaces and professions traditionally reserved for females are more open to males, for example nursing. Females are more likely to perceive a place as unsafe, particularly cities or public transport at night (even though men are statistically more likely to be attacked - culture)

Question 19

How can sexuality influence perception of a place

Answer 19

Increasing recognition and acceptance of different sexual orientations - development of areas in some cities where lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender groups tend to cluster - e.g. Brighton in the UK. Pubs and clubs in these areas often advertise themselves as LGBT venues (casino district in San Francisco) - LGBT people feel more at home and comfortable in these areas and have more of a sense of belonging and community - can openly express themselves in these enclaves. ‘Pink pound’ brings regenerating force into what are often run-down urban locations.

Question 20

How can religion influence perception of a place?

Answer 20

Spiritual meanings have been given to places for millenia, e.g. mountains (Fuji) and rivers (Ganges), or human built features like stonehenge, pyramids and places of worship such as churches, synagogues and mosques. Places such as Mecca have a more significant meaning to muslims than christians for example, and some places have strong meaning to several religions, e.g Jerusalem.

Question 21

How can role influence perception of a place?

Answer 21

Role can change throughout the day - you may be a son/daughter/brother/sister at home, a student or member of a sports team or society at school, and an employee at work - you adjust the way you perceive these places depending on your role. A caretaker at a school may have a different perception to a student or a teacher. Different experiences of places have a significant influence on perception of those places.

Question 22

How might there be an emotional reaction to a place despite never having visited it?

Answer 22

Mention of a concentration camp may generate negative feelings due to past education and knowledge of these places. Mention of a sunny beach under clear blue skies may generate a positive feeling due to associations with other places and pleasant past experiences under similar circumstances, even if the two linked places are not geographically very near to each other

Question 23

How might emotional attachment influence people who do not have a clearly defined and self-governed homeland? Give an example

Answer 23

These people may live in diasporas (spread away from homeland). there are groups of people who do not have their own territory as they would like to, for example the Kurds. Their main spatial concentration is where the borders of Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria come together. They have long campaigned, sometimes violently, for their own independent state (Kurdistan) as they are very emotionally attached to this area of the world.

Question 24

What is time-space compression?

Answer 24

Set of processes leading to a ‘shrinking world’ caused by reductions in the relative distances between places, e.g. reduced travel time, the internet, improved communication and transport technologies - easy to hop on a plane and go the fuck to fucking Kyrgistan or wherever. “Global village” - feels like world is becoming closer together and getting smaller. To do with relationships and connections becoming closer - increased interconnectivity.
Stuff in your fridge comes from miles away

Question 25

How can places be represented informally?

Answer 25

Mainly through media - e.g. television and film.
Soap operas, e.g. Eastenders gives a certain view of East London, which may or may not be accurate.
Combination of fiction with a real-world location, e.g. Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand - popular tourist destination - presents particular place profile to tourists
Through art, literature, music, graffiti, photography - convey informal images of places - those involved in producing these informal place profiles are doing so through the influence of their own perceptions
The news still counts as informal as opinions are involved.

Question 26

How can places be represented formally and statistically?

Answer 26

More data collected, stored and analysed than has ever been the case. In many countries most effective way in which this data is collected is through censuses. ACs such as UK, USA, Australia hold regular surveys of their populations which are accurate and reliable. Censuses taken in LIDCs may not be as regular, accurate or reliable as they can be harder to fund and organise.
Dramatic increase in quantity and quality of geospatial data accessible to the general public - many government agencies maintain websites which present formal representations of places - environment agency produces maps showing risk of flooding and maps available from the police showing crime locations
Offer more rational and objective perceptions on place profiles in terms of actual statistics of population, age, gender, qualifications.
Limited ability to indicate certain aspects of place profiles such as how people live their lives. Both have their limitations in terms of accurately representing places

Question 27

What is social inequality?

Answer 27

Uneven distribution of opportunities and rewards for different social groups, defined by factors such as age, gender, class, sexuality, religion or ethnicity

Question 28

What is the difference between quality of life and standard of living?

Answer 28

Quality of life i s how far people’s general well-being is met, including access to services such as health, education and leisure
Standard of living is people’s income and ability to afford material things such as food and water, housing and clothing and personal mobility

Question 29

How is social inequality measured?

Answer 29

Censuses, then combined into spatial units of various sizes to show variation from one location to another. Can be mapped, e.g. using GIS
Several factors combined in the UK to give Index of Multiple Deprivation

Question 30

How can income be used to measure social inequality?

Answer 30

US$1.25 a day identified by World Bank as absolute poverty
PPP - purchasing power parity - cost of obtaining a particular good or service to local costs (which varies a lot between different locations, e.g. price of bread in nepal vs UK)
Relative poverty - spread of income across whole population - 60% of median income considered poverty
Gini coefficient - ratio assessing level of income inequality within a country - (1.0 all income in hands of 1 person, 0.0 divided completely equally between everyone in the country) - uk around 0.35

Question 31

What is poverty?

Answer 31

Not having enough money to pay for a decent standard of living

Question 32

What are the key factors involved in measuring social inequality?

Answer 32

Income, housing, education, healthcare, employment opportunities

Question 33

How can education be used to measure social inequality?

Answer 33

Literacy rate (measure of ability to read and write at a basic level) - over 90% in most ACs and EDCs, often under 60% in LIDCs
Qualifications (e.g. GCSE/A-level pass rates, vocational qualifications)
Informal education as well - learning skills from watching and learning from family members but cannot be measured easily at all. Learning how to tend livestock or grow crops gives valuable skills which may lead to employment and a decrease in inequality

Question 34

How does employment create inequalities in ACs?

Answer 34

Wages are often much lower in rural areas compared to urban areas, creating a rural-urban divide

Question 35

Why is employment difficult to use as a measure of inequality in many EDCs and LIDCs?

Answer 35

There is lots of informal employment (outside official recognition and record, no regulation) and subsistence farming in LIDCs

Question 36

Which 3 factors affect a person’s ability to access services?

Answer 36

Number of services
How easy it is to get to the service (e.g. quantity and quality of transport links, geographical distance)
Social and economic factors such as age, gender and income

Question 37

What is the HDI?

Answer 37

The Human Development Index combines economic and social indicators into a composite measure of inequality amongst countries of the world

Question 38

What is disposable income?

Answer 38

Amount left over once essentials such as food, clothing and housing have been paid for - more related to quality of life than standard of living.

Question 39

What has been a problem with housing prices in rural areas in recent times?

Answer 39

Non-residents have bought houses in rural areas as holiday homes or to operate as holiday rentals, which raises the price of housing in these areas, meaning young rural residents often find themselves priced out of the market

Question 40

What are the UN Millennium Development Goals?

Answer 40

8 goals launched by the UN in 2000 to focus efforts to improve people’s lives in areas such as child mortality, gender equality and eradicating extreme poverty and hunger

Question 41

Females are disadvantaged in terms of education in some societies such as in the middle east, aren’t they?

Answer 41

Yes. Yes they are.

Question 42

What does globalisation represent?

Answer 42

The increasing interconnectivity of people and places around the world. This means that decisions and activities in one place can have significant consequences for communities and individuals in places far away.

Question 43

What are global shift and economic restructuring?

Answer 43

Locational movement of manufacturing production, in particular from ACs to EDCs and LIDCs from the 1970s onwards.
Change in proportions of people working in various economic sectors, e.g. change in ACs from secondary to tertiary employment.
Most primary employment (exploiting raw materials) now found in LIDCs and some EDCs, declining in ACs, in which tertiary and increasingly quaternary employment are now dominant

Question 44

Describe some of the consequences of structural economic change, for example in the northeast of England

Answer 44

When mines and factories close in ACs (deindustrialisation and the movement from the secondary to tertiary sector of employment), job losses are an inevitable consequence. However, this gives opportunities for positive environmental change, such as the improvement of air and water quality, and so levels of health can improve (e.g. less lung cancer, waterborne disease and such). However, urban land can be left derelict and contaminated - toxins such as mercury and cadmium can have serious health risks - substantial cleaning required before regeneration and rebuilding can take place (e.g. 2012 Olympic Site in London)

Question 45

Describe structural economic change in the tertiary sector in the last 20 years and its implications

Answer 45

Relocation of back office clerical jobs and call centres to EDCs and some LIDCs (outsourcing) - places like India have lower costs but an increasingly educated workforce. Means ACs can focus in higher skilled and more technological activities such as research, product design and development and marketing (quaternary sector)

Question 46

Describe how the capitalist system goes through a series of interconnected cycles of economic change (Kondratieff cycles)

Answer 46

50 year sequence of booms and recessions
Booms associated with technological innovation and new industries. After a while technology is no longer new and fewer opportunities for growth exist. During boom times, opportunities exist for people, especially for those with skills which the new technology requires
Recessions impact people differently. The more educated generally cope more successfully and places with a diversified economy cope better and retain a better level of wealth and SOL than areas which do not

Question 47

What are players (or stakeholders)?

Answer 47

Individuals, groups or organisation which can influence, or be influenced by, the processes of change in a place

Question 48

What are public players?

Answer 48

Governments operating at different scales - transnational governments such as the EU, national governments, local governments

Question 49

What are private players?

Answer 49

e.g. transnational corporations - locational decisions about their businesses at the global scale - opening or closing of mines, factories or office complexes can impact a place significantly, economically and socially
Smaller scale employers locally - contraction, expansion or closure

Question 50

What percentage of data holds a locational component?

Answer 50

60-80%

Question 51

How can GIS be used in placemaking?

Answer 51

Data with a locational element can allow changes to a place to modelled, in the hope of anticipating issues and having appropriate measures before a problem arises - e.g. predicting traffic flows so measures can be put in place where congestion may occur, or retailers using GIS to predict potential customer numbers when planning the location of a new store

Question 52

What is FDI and why do governments want to attract it?

Answer 52

It is Foreign Direct Investment. The money that TNCs can put into a place when they invest in it can have a significant impact on regeneration, for example in areas where de-industrialisation has occurred. And there is a positive multiplier effect - when one TNC invests, others may follow with further investment, which can contribute to the placemaking process and development of a place.

Question 53

What are GIS systems?

Answer 53

Integrated computer tools for gathering, storing, processing and analysing geographic data, which is data that can be plotted on a map

Question 54

Name 2 other groups of people who have significant involvement in the placemaking process

Answer 54

Planners - draw up strategies for rebranding, housing developments, re-imaging, new transport links, industrial developments
Architects - buildings can have a major influence over whether people see a place positively or negatively - poorly built high-rise blocks with issues such as damp and heating problems seen as unappealing (negative), whereas modern architecture, such as waterfront developments in the London Docklands seen more positively - skyscrapers are cool

Question 55

What is a ‘24-hour city’?

Answer 55

Increasingly, large urban centres are developing 24-hour rhythms of constant but different activities - parts of the city become different places depending on the time of day

Question 56

What does rebranding involve?

Answer 56

Developments aimed at changing negative perceptions of a place in order to make it more attractive to investment

Question 57

What is the difference between reimaging and regeneration?

Answer 57

Reimaging is creating new mental images of a place, often through cultural elements such as sporting events, music, art, architecture etc
Regeneration is the longer-term process of improving the economic, social and environmental aspects of a place

Question 58

What are the 3 key elements to rebranding a place?

Answer 58

Brand artefact - physical environment, e.g. buildings or characteristic features
Brand essence - experience of the people when in the place
Brandscape - how the place compares to rivals also competing for investment