Topic 1 - Place

Question 1

What does place, space, sense of place and lived experience mean?

Answer 1

• Places - A location with meaning, can be meaningful to individuals in ways that are personal or subjective
• Spaces - An area with no meaning /location to a person
• Sense of place - Subjective and emotional attachment people have to a place
• Lived experience - People’s perspective on the social, economic situation within their areas and the way they interact with them

Question 2

What are the three aspects or concepts of place?

Answer 2

• Location - Where a place is, for example the coordinates on a map
• Locale - The place where something happens or is set, or that has particularly events associated to it
• Sense of place

Question 3

What are the theoretical approaches to a place?

Answer 3

• Descriptive - The idea that the world is set of places and each place can be studied and has distinct characteristics
• Social constructionist - Sees a place as a product of a particular set of processes occurring at a particular time
• Phenomenological- How an individual person experiences places, recognising a highly personal relationship between place and person

Question 4

What is meant by identity?

Answer 4

• A sense of place/relationship developed in relation to our home

Question 5

What are the physical geography factors that contribute to character of a place?

Answer 5

• Relief
• Aspect - the compass direction that a topographic slope faces
• Drainage - the patterns formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin
• Soil
• Rock type

Question 6

What are the built environment factors that contribute to character of place?

Answer 6

• Land use
• Age/type of building
• Building density
• Building material
• Street layout

Question 7

What are the demographic factors that contribute to character of place?

Answer 7

• Population size
• Population structure (age/gender)
• Ethnicity

Question 8

What are the political factors that contribute to character of place?

Answer 8

• Role of local councils
• Role of resident groups
• Political structure, e.g. democracy or dictatorship
• Political relatives with countries

Question 9

What are the locational factors that contribute to character of place?

Answer 9

• Urban or rural
• Proximity to settlements
• Proximity to main roads
• Proximity to rivers/coasts
• Proximity to other countries

Question 10

What are the cultural factors that contribute to character of place?

Answer 10

• Heritage
• Religion
• Language
• Music
• Clothes

Question 11

What are the socio-economic factors that contribute to character of place?

Answer 11

• Employment opportunities
• Amenities
• Educational attainment
• Income
• Health
• Crime rates

Question 12

What are strategies used by National and local levels to attract people and investment to a place?

Answer 12

• Place marketing - Marketing or public relations companies may be employed to improve or create positive perceptions
• Rebranding - Ways a place is redeveloped and marketed to gain a new identity
• Regeneration - Long term process to reverse urban decline and create sustainable communities
• Reimaging - Dissociates place from pre-existing imagines in relation to bad image