Categories of place

• 4 categories of place:

  1. Near places > those close to us > surrounding neighbourhood or place near to heart e.g. where used to live
  2. Far places > distant > far away geographically or distant emotional connection
  3. Media places > a place someone has only read about or seen in media e.g. TV
  4. Experienced places > a place a person has spent lots of time in
• Places near and far:

  • subjective as in some countries a five-hour drive could constitute a near place whilst that in the UK would be a far place
  • People tend to know near places better than far places, though this is changing:
  • Improvements in transport mean people can reach far places more quickly - this is known as time-space compression
  • Technological advances including the internet mean it is easier to communicate with far places and to experience them
  • Perception of people is also affected by whether they are considered near or far
• Sense of place:

  • direct experience of a place can create a sense of belonging
  • ppl who have travelled to a place are often able to describe the sounds, images and feelings they experience > developed a sense of place
  • the media often represents a place which contrasts our lived experience > publicity for tourism etc have different functions and appeal to diff groups of ppl
  • social media can give more realistic portrayal of a place but may not represent others sense of place
• How does digital tech change the way people experience place:

  • locative media available on mobile phones uses GPS software to bring place-specific content and experiences to ppl
  • tech used for geo-caching or dating > line between experienced place and virtual place blurring
• What are experienced places?

  • when we visit somewhere they become experienced places
  • when visiting a place numerous times it can transition from being a far place to it feeling nearer
  • these experiences generate topophilia (love of a place) e.g. Portugal or topophobia (dislike or fear of a place)