Concepts of Place

Question 1

*What is a space?

Answer 1

An area with no meaning.

Question 2

What is a place?

Answer 2

A space with meaning.

Question 3

What is place theory?

Answer 3

Place refers to both objective locations and the subjective meanings attached to it.

Question 4

What is my definition of place?

Answer 4

A single location on the earth’s surface which is characterised by the social and cultural attributes of life which makes a person feel emotionally connected to it. It is identifiable due to its unique meaning and relevance within a persons life.

Question 5

Give a theorist example of the definition of place.

Answer 5

“Place can be described in the extent to which human beings have given meaning to a specific area” (Tuan 1977)

Question 6

What is a location?

Answer 6

Where a place is on a map (the longitude and latitude)

Question 7

What is locale?

Answer 7

Locations of different daily activities, e.g. school, theatre, shops, etc Rhythms of a place.

Question 8

What is a sense of place?

Answer 8

Our relationship with places expressed in emotions and biographies. The attachments people develop to particular locations.

Question 9

What is the location of Doncaster?

Answer 9

Doncaster is an industrial city found in South Yorkshire in the north of England, about an hour away from Sheffield. It is situated in the Don Valley on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels.

Question 10

What are some features of the locale of Doncaster?

Answer 10

• The Doncaster Mosque and Cathedral
• Frenchgate shopping centre and Lakeside outlet stores and entertainment areas (e.g. the Vue cinema).

Question 11

What is the sense of place of Doncaster?

Answer 11

Doncaster has a rich religious history due to the Doncaster Anglican Minister church and has a diverse cultural history also due to the social opportunity of the Doncaster Race Course and famous Doncaster market.

Question 12

How might a gay person’s sense of place be different to other people living in Doncaster?

Answer 12

A gay person may feel concerned for their safety if they are open about their sexuality in Doncaster as the ageing population has old-fashioned, possibly discriminative values.

Question 13

Give an example of how a real life person’s sense of place may change due to their gender and ethnicity.

Answer 13

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In the Swat District, Pakistan, she was shot in the face for attempting to go to school and due to her extremely strong sense of place, she desires to return home from the UK to Swat due to the memories she created there and attachment she has to the place.

Question 14

What is Doreen Massey’s view of place?

Answer 14

1. Places do not have one single identity
2. Are not frozen in time (processes occur)
3. Do not have clearly defined boundaries
4. Are shaped by internal and external linkages.

Question 15

What are some of Doncaster’s internal links?

Answer 15

• Race course
• Protestant church
• Frenchgate
• Coal mines
• Doncaster market

Question 16

What are some of Doncaster’s external links?

Answer 16

• Train station
• Doncaster airport.

Question 17

What is placelessness? Where can this be seen in Doncaster?

Answer 17

When global forces have a greater influence on shaping places than local factors, e.g common franchises like TGI Fridays, the Vue Cinema and Pizza Express at the Lakeside retail park.

Question 18

How do we know that places are not frozen in time (processes occur)? Give examples.

Answer 18

1. New York - ‘ground zero’ is the site of the former World Trade Centre, this is one of the most dramatic changes in any global city.
2. Doncaster - De-industrialisation of the coal industry.

Question 19

How do we know that places do not have clearly defined boundaries?

Answer 19

1. There is no clear division between two places, especially in county boundaries
2. Different people have different interpretations of where they live.

Question 20

Why does the 9/11 Memorial, New York help people to understand why places do not have one single identity?

Answer 20

1. A grieving parent of a victim of the 9/11 attacks may view the memorial as a negative attraction as the gift shop implies that the memorial is used as a way to profit from the “mass grave”.
2. A day-tripper/tourist who took a trip to the museum would have positive outlook on the experience as educational and a way to pay their respects to those who lost their lives in the disaster.