The nature and importance of places 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
Representation
Representation is how a place is portrayed or ‘seen’ in society.
Subjective
Based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes or opinions.
Topophobia
A fear of a place
Topophillia
The love of a place
Insider
A term given to a person who feels like they belong to a place and identifies with it
Outsider
A term given to a person who feels like they are alienated from a place and therefore may have little sense of belonging
Temporal
A term or scale that relates to time
Theoretical approaches to place
A descriptive approach
A social constuctionist approach
A phenomenologival approach
A descriptive approach
This is the idea that the world is set up of places and each place can be studied and is distinct
A social constuctionist approach
This approach sees place as a product of a particular set of social processess occuring at a particular time e.g. trafalgar square was orginally built to commemorate a british na victory in 1800s howevr overitme socially constructed views can become outdated
A phenomenologival approach
This approach is not interested in the unqiue characteristics of places or why it was constructed instead it is interested in how an individual person experiences place, recognising a highly personal relationship between place and person
Different types of place
Near and Far places
Experiences and Media places
Rural and Urban places
Private and public places
Insider and outsider perspectives
Home town v Clone town
Nimby
Not in my back yard - acryonyn for local oppostion of development
What factors contribute to being in place or out of place
Immigration
Travellers, LGBT
Gender roles
Near anf far places
- Refers to the geographical distance between place, equally can also desrvibe the emotional connections with a particular place and how comfortable a person feels within the place
Near places are subjectives
Some places feel more familar that others partly due to personal experience but also because of frequent representationl exposure
Geographically near places do not automatically foster identities of fiamiliarity and belonging and that in these days of globalised culture, traevl, media far off places arent automaticcaly strange uncomfortable and different
Experienced and media places
- Experienced places are those places a person has spent time and actually visited - Visit a place to create an emotional attachment others say media portrayal of a place is enough to do this
Media places are places that people have not viisted but learned about through media representation
Reality of a place can be far different to what is put across by the media and most geographers aregue that uou have a more intesnse experience with a place by visiting it stronger attachemnt stimulation of a sense of place
Rural and urban places
- Countryside in uk has been idyll ised and countryside living has been stereotyeped as involving happy, healthy and close knit community experiencing few of the problems of urban life
Media represnetations of rual places - coutnry life tv doc maryin childrens books seek to reinforce these images
Sterotyipcal images of rual living hide the problems which have sought to disadvatge low income households in rural area - unemplotment underm scarce avaliability of affordable housing the reduction in public trabsort servives and rural homelessness
Cities sterypoed in negative way
Public vs private
Public space = social space acceible and open to people e.g. epsom highstreet
Private spacwe - owned by an idnivisual or organisation
Home town vs Clone town
Home town = local shops, own identity
Clone towns = identical towns with same mass shops
Identity with a place
Place is critical to construction of our dientity
Localism
An affection or emotional ownership of a place
Regionalism
Consciousness of and loyalty to a distinct region with a population that shares similarities
Nationalism
Loyalty and devotion to a nation creates a sense of national consciousness
Belonging
Factors affecting sense of belonging
Wellbeing
Belonging
Positionatity
Refers to the factors such as gender, race, ethincity, age, relgion, politics and socio-economic status influence how we percieve different places
Character of place
Endogenous factors
The characteristics of a place itself or the factors that have orginated internally
Endogneous factors include
Infrastucture
Exogneous factors
The relationship of one place with other places and the external factors that affect this
Exogenous factors include
- Links to or influences from other places and distances from route ways to other places and accesibility of place
Deindustrilisation and unemploymeny, economic restructuring and urban delcine of tradtional urban cities
International migration
Diasporas
Different ways people have identifed with a place
Greater knowledge of an area
National level E.G welsh
Religioin
Power of political protests e.g. 2011 tahiti sq in cario
Named example for Character of place
Mon St Michel in Normandy, France
What is Mon St michel?
Le Mont-st michel is a tidal island in Normandy France
Where is the island located
The island is located about 1km off the countrys north western coast at the mouth of the cousenon river near avranches
What endogenous factors have contributed to mont st michel tidal island ?
- Accesibility at certain times - tides
- Roads - allow for flows of people and cars
- 30 residents live there permanently
- Retail shops
- Mon st Michel omlette
- Orginal historic architecture
- The river - Normandy and Brittany different ownership
- The abbey 11th c roman esque - arhctecture
What exogneous factors have contributed to mont st michel tidal island
- Pilgrims and Tourists
- 2 million vistors a year
Rio de Janerio endogenous factors
- The relief of rio shapes the urban form e.g. favellas
- Beaches - driving the economy with tourism
Rio De Janerio Exogenous Factors
- World cup
- The olympics 2011- investment
- Limited seasonal differences
- Rural-urban migratiom
Cape Town South Africa Endogenous
- Population of 4.77m
- The table mountain - leads to urban form
- The lions head ^^
Cape Town South Africa Exogenous
- Tourists - climb the table mountain, beaches
- Export wine and fruit at port city
- Lots of hqs of major finance
Pyongyang North Korea Endogenous factors
- Pyongyang is situated in the west of North Korea, on the Taedong River, which provides water resources and transportation.
- It has a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers, affecting agriculture and infrastructure.
- surrounding region has access to coal and iron, which support local industries.
- As the political and administrative center, Pyongyang receives preferential treatment in infrastructure and resource allocation.
- Pyongyang is home to North Korea’s elite, with access to better housing, food, and services compared to other cities.
Pyongyang North Korea Exogenous factors
- Pyongyang is home to North Korea’s elite, with access to better housing, food, and services compared to other cities.
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New York Endogenous factors
- The river - NYC has access to the Atlantic Ocean, making it a key center for global trade.
- The deep, ice-free harbor helped NYC develop as a major port city.
- Manhattan is an island
- Broadway
- Financial hub - Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and major banks, making it a global financial center.
- NYC fosters start-ups, with Silicon Alley (its tech sector) rivaling Silicon Valley.
- ome to prestigious universities (Columbia, NYU) that contribute to research and skilled workforce development.
- Economy
- Immigratiob
- Grid like urban form
- Venturi, canyoning effect
New York Exogneous factors
- Immigration - irish/latinos
- NYC is a major entry point for imports and exports, with trade partners like China, Canada, and Europe.
Attracts millions of visitors annually, bringing in revenue and global cultural influence.
Attracts millions of visitors annually, bringing in revenue and global cultural influence.
Attracts millions of visitors annually, bringing in revenue and global cultural influence.
NYC is vulnerable to hurricanes (e.g., Hurricane Sandy in 2012) and coastal flooding.
