Changing Places

• space

  a continuous area or expanse that is free, available, or unoccupied
• place

  a particular position or point in space; a location

  a portion of space designated or available for being used by someone
• Theorising place: descriptive approach


  the idea that the world is a set of places and each place can be studied and is distinct. in other words this approach focuses on the unique characteristics of place
• Theorising place: social constructionist approach


  sees place as a product of a particular set of social processs occuring at a particular time. In other words this approach focuses on why a place is the way it is
• Theorising place: phenomenological approach


  interested in how individuals experience place and the personal relationship between person and place. In other words this approach focuses on how places are percieved, experienced and given meaning
• location


  where a place is e.g. coordinates on a map
• locale


  takes into account the effect that people have on their setting. In terms of locale a place is shaped by the people, cultures and customs within it
• sense of place


  the subjective and emotional attachment that people have to a place. This may be completely different when looked at from another persons perspective
• material trace


  physical additions to the environment i.e. buildings, fountains, signs and statues
• non-material trace


  events, performances or emotions that occur in that place e.g. protests that happened there, military victory, events, concerts and celebrations
• insider perspective


  to be inside a place is to belong to it and identify with it. Dominant groups who have the economic, social and cultural power in a location may make outsiders feel out of place
• outsider perspective


  outsiders are not born in a place (i.e. immigrants) or don't fit in (i.e. homeless people)
• socio-spatial exclusion


  the concept that dominant groups who have the political and economic power in society determine who is allowed to be in a place and how they should behave. This leads to the exclusion of some groups in society from those places, often those who are also excluded socially, politically and econmically
• Near and far places

  about how close places are physically however can also be about whether they feel near or far. Places can be near (side by side) but also worlds apart (socially, econmically) like the favelas and the luxary condo block in Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Private places


  • belonging to or for the use of a particular person or group

  • secret; confidential

  • not widely known about

  • personal

  • out of public view

  • solitary; secluded

  • not accessible to the general public
• Public places


  • relating to a population or community as a whole

  • open to all persons

  • maintained at public expense and under public control

  • generally known

  • open to the view of all
• Experienced places


  places a person has spent time in
• Media places


  places a person has only read about or seen on film
• Character of place


  refers to the physical and human features that help distinguish it from another place. Often linked to the natural environement but more often a combination of natural and cultural factors
• Endogenous factors


  factors shaping places that originate from within:

  • land use

  • topography

  • physical geography

  • infrastructure

  • demographic characteristics

  • built environment

  • location

  • economic characteristics
• Exogenous factors


  factors shaping the character of a place that are caused or have origin from without (i.e. externally):

  • flows of people

  • flows or resources

  • flows of investment

  • flows of ideas
• Placelessness


  refers to the casual eradication of distinctive places and the deliberate making of standardized landscapes and the weakening of the identity of places to the point where they both look alike and offer the same bland possibilities for experience
• Global sense of place


  places are dynamic and have multiple identities
• Flows of people


  flows of people - tourists, migrant workers, refugees - transform both source and destination places
• Flows of resources


  huge volumes of resources or commodities are traded globally and have tremendous impact on people and places

  flows include: agricultural commodities, energy related commodities, metals
• Flows of investment/capital


  can be from another country or from within the same country if governments allocate money to an area or if new businesses move in

  can also be out of an area

  flows include: FDI, aid, remittances
• Flows of ideas


  sped up due to advances in technology and increased flows of people

  flows can be: political, technological
• Glocalisation


  multinational companies adapting to the local marketplace
• Localisation


  greater focus on 'local' place and the promotion of local goods and services
• Representation


  the description of someone or something in a particular way
• Media


  means of communication, including tv, film, photography, art, newspaper, books, songs. These reach or influence people widely
• Quantitative


  data that can be quantified, verified and is amenable to statistical manipulation i.e. numbers
• Qualitative


  information which is non-numerical and used in a relatively unstructured and open ended way i.e. interviews
• Factors to consider when analysing a representation: Provenance


  • Who created this representation?

  • When was it created? What is its historical context?

  • Why was it created? What was its purpose?

  • Who is the image intended for? Who is the audience
• Factors to consider when analysing a representation: The Representation

  • In what form is the representation?

  • What kind of images, symbols or metaphors are used? Does the representation rely on or contest stereotypes? Think about the use of colour, language, camera angle

  • What or who has been left out of representation?

  • How does it compare to other representations?

  • How does it relate to wider geographical processes e.g. conservation, industrialisation, tourism?
• Big data


  big scale (no. responses, variety of data, population size) and requires huge amounts of computational power
• LSOAs


  lower layer super output areas have an average population of 1614 people or 672 households
• Wards


  greater in size than LSOAs, average population 6543 people or 2726 households
• Stereotypes


  a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (or place)
• Globalisation


  how places become more interconnected and interdependant