Concept of Place

• Place can be thought of as a what?


  Location

  BUT THIS DOES NOT TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT A PLACE - what it is like, who lives their, how it has changed
• Describe location?


  Can be plotted on a map or defined by a grid reference
• Place can be thought of as what?

  The web of characteristics, flows and perceptions that are all attached to a specific location
• What is place made up of?

  • Location
  • Physical characteristics of landscape
  • Human characteristics
  • Human features of the landscape
  • Things that flow in and out of a place
  • sense of place - ie emotional meanings
• what are some physical characteristics of a place?

  topography

  physical features
• examples of human characteristics?


  who lives there and what they are like
• Example of things that flow in and out of a place?

  people money ideas resources
• Describe the sense of place?


  The emotional meanings that place has, either to individuals or groups of people
• apart from location, what is constantly changing?


  aspects of places and the meanings they have
• Give an example of one thing that is constantly changing?

  the physical characteristics of a place - change over long time scales (rivers migrating) or short time scales (volcano erupts and alters the landscape)
• Give an example of one thing that is constantly changing?

  Human characteristics - change over whole lifetimes (births and deaths) or shorter scales - migrate
• Give an example of one thing that is constantly changing?

  Flows in and out of a place change - eg flows of money change when a TNC invests or closes factort
• Give an example of one thing that is constantly changing?

  The sense of place individuals or groups have may change eg from child growing up to adult places may not have the same meaninga
• Who may have a different sense of place?


  Different groups or individuals

  eg city is place of excitement to one person and a place of stress to another
• Why is the idea of place important?

  Because many people create their identity based on the places they feel connected to

  • someone from LDN - consider coming from LDN as a part of who they are
• what is identity?


  the sense of who a person is
• why do people create their identity based on the places they feel connected to?


  Because individuals share characteristics that they feel bind them together as a group , creating a shared identity for all the people from that place. This can be seen at a variety of scales

  • local eg sharing positive sense of a village with other residents
  • regional eg all people from a region sharing an accent
  • national eg sharing language or religion
• What does relating identity to particular places mean?


  That people can be perceived as belonging to those places or not - this is the idea that people are insiders or outsiders in particular places
• What is an insider?


  Someone who is familiar with a place and feels welcome in that place

  • they feel they belong there
• Examples of insiders?


  Residents of a country who all share the same cultural values may feel like insiders in that country
• What is an outsider?


  Someone who feels unwelcome or excluded from a place

  • They do not feel that they belong there
• Examples of outsiders?


  International immigrants who do not share the cultural values as the residents of a country may feel like outsiders in the country they move to
• What factors can make a person feel like an insider or outsider?


  • Age
  • Sexuality
  • gender
  • eg elderly person may feel like an outsider in a nightclub
• People can have a sense of place for what?

  Experienced or media places

  • places they have been to and places they have not been to
• What are experienced places?


  places that people have spent time in

  when a person visits or lives in a place their experiences shape their sense of that placex
• what are media places?


  places that people have not been to , but have created a sense of place for through their depiction in media eg films
• People may feel like insiders or outsiders in experienced or media places
• Why can a person's sense of a media place be very different to the lived experience of the same place?

  The media may present a place in a particular way and for a particular purpose eg tourist websites
• Places can be categorised as what?


  Near or far
• What are near places?


  These can be thought of as geographically near to where a person lives, and far places as distant from where a person lives
• Far places can be thought of what?


  Distant from where a person lives
• Where are people more likely to feel like insiders- near or far places?


  Near places- as they are more likely to have experienced them and felt comfortable in them

  (not all people will feel like this in ALL geographically near places though- maybe because of age sexuality- may feel excluded )
• Where are people more likely to feel like outsiders- in near or far places?


  Far places- as they are less likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them
• What has affected people's experience of geographical distance?


  GLOBALISATION

  (the process of the world's economies, political systems and cultures becoming more closely integrated)
• Give one way in which globalisation has affected people's experience of geographical distance?


  Improvements in travel tech - far places are quicker to get to and thus can be experienced more easily and frequently
• Give one way in which globalisation has affected people's experience of geographical distance?


  Improvements in ICT - people can be very familiar with media places -places they have no lived experience of
• Give one way in which globalisation has affected people's experience of geographical distance?


  People can remain closely connected with people and activities in far places via the internet
• BRIEFLY state 3 ways in which globalisation has affected people's experience of geographical distance?


  1. travel tech improvements
  2. ICT improvements
  3. connected via internet
• What is increasingly likely today?

  That people may feel closely connected to, and even like insiders, in places that are geographically far away
• What also means that far places can feel very similar to near places?

  global companies and products

  • eg same chain stores in many city centres all over world