What are the three main approaches to studying place?
A Descriptive Approach, Social constructionist approach and Phenomenological approach
A Descriptive Approach
The idea that the world is a set of places and that each place can be studied and is distinct.
Social constructionist approach
Place is seen as a product of a particular set of social processes (religious, political, economic) occurring at a particular time.
Phenomenological approach
Unlike descriptive and social constructivist this approach is not interested in why the place is unique or why it was constructed. Instead it is interested in how an individual person experiences a place. E.g. If you live by the Ouse in York you might experience flooding which will make your experience negative but if you have visited it for a holiday you might think it is positive.
What did Yi-Fu Tuan develop?
Tuan developed the term ‘topophilia’ to describe the affective bond between people and place and argued that it is through human perception and experience that we get to know places.
What did Edward Relph argue?
Relph argues that the degree of attachment, involvement and concern that a person or group has for a particular place is critical in understanding of ‘place’.
