CGP The Concept of Place

• Place


  A location which could be plotted on a map or defined by a grid reference, but also includes the physical characteristics, human characteristics, flows in and out, and the emotional meanings the place has
• Geographers are interested in the location of places, and also the things that contribute to the characteristics and perceptions that people have of those places
• The study of the concept of place is called the study of the concept of place
• Place

  • Location
  • Physical characteristics of the landscape
  • Human characteristics (who lives there and what they do)
  • All the things that flow in and out of that place (people, money, ideas, resources)
  • The sense of place, i.e. the emotional meanings the place has, either to individuals or groups of people
• Apart from location, all aspects of places and the meanings they have are constantly changing
• The physical characteristics of a place can change over long time scales or short time scales
• The human characteristics of a place can change over whole lifetimes or shorter time scales
• The flows in and out of a place change, e.g. flows of money could change when a transnational corporation invests in a new factory or decides to close an existing factory
• The sense of place individuals or groups have may change, e.g. the places a person played in as a child will not have the same meanings to that person when they return there as an adult
• Different groups or individuals may also have a different sense of the same place
• Insider


  Someone who is familiar with a place and who feels welcome in that place, i.e. they feel that they belong
• Outsider


  Someone who feels unwelcome or excluded from a place, i.e. they don't feel that they belong
• There are many factors that can make a person feel like an insider or an outsider, e.g. age, nationality or gender
• Experienced places


  Places that people have spent time in, where a person's experiences, such as the things they see and the people they meet, shape their sense of that place
• Media places


  Places that people have not been to, but have a sense of place for through their depiction in media like books, art and websites
• A person's sense of a media place can be very different to the lived experience of the same place, as the media may present a place in a particular way for a particular purpose
• Near places


  Places that are geographically close to where a person lives
• Far places


  Places that are geographically distant from where a person lives
• People are more likely to feel like insiders in near places, as they are more likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them
• People are more likely to feel like outsiders in far places, as they are less likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them
• Globalisation has affected people's experience of geographical distance, as improvements in travel and ICT mean that far places are quicker to get to and people can be very familiar with media places they have no lived experience of
• Global companies and products also mean that far places can feel very similar to near places, which geographers describe as 'placelessness'