KI 2: How Do We Understand Place?

Question 1

What factors can influence people’s perception of place?

Answer 1

• Age
• Gender
• Sexuality
• Religion
• Role
• Emotional attachement

Question 2

What is emotional attachment?

Answer 2

Personal memories that influence someone’s perception of place, such as:
- childhood memories
- large events
- illness
- milestones in life
- national identity
- holidays

Question 3

How might someone’s age affect their perception of place?

Answer 3

• Younger people may prefer to live in small, low cost households with things like bars, clubs and shops nearby
• Older people would likely prefer quiet, open spaces like parks.
• As people move through their life cycle, they change residence, and often location.

Question 4

How might someone’s gender affect their perception of place?

Answer 4

Depending on the society, the role of men and women can differ.
- e.g. the phrase “a woman’s place is the home”, widespread in the late 20th century.
- question of safety for women - less likely to live in a dangerous area (e.g. less likely to walk in dark places late and alone)
- politicians, architects and planners more likely to be men, and so likely to design it for men.

Question 5

How may someone’s sexuality affect their perception of place?

Answer 5

• Acceptance of certain sexualities can affect certain people’s use of it
• Many places have acquired a meaning from being a common place for meetings of LGBT communities (e.g. Gay Village, Birmingham)

Question 6

How can someone’s religion affect their sense of place?

Answer 6

• Locations can have spiritual meaning to certain religions (e.g. Jerusalem) or monuments (e.g. Uluru Rock, Australia)
• Religious buildings such as cathedrals, mosques and synagogues cause a greater proportion of people of those respective beliefs to populate those areas.

Question 7

How can someone’s role affect their perception of place?

Answer 7

• Your role can affect how you behave in public and private settings (e.g with parents or with friends)
• Young children without much of a role would see a place very differently to a CEO.
• Your role will dictate your economic status, whether you rent or buy and how much you spend in a day to day life.

Question 8

What is time-space compression?

Answer 8

It is the idea that as the world becomes more interconnected, space no longer becomes a barrier to flows of people, goods and ideas.
- e.g. much of the food in your local supermarket is sourced from overseas, and the availability of certain products is no longer seasonal.
- it is usually achieved through technological innovations that condense or reduce spacial or temporal distances.

Question 9

What is globalisation, and what is meant by the “global village”?

Answer 9

Globalisation is the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the world.
- the term “global village” is used to convey the idea that the world has become metaphorically smaller and more interconnected.

Question 10

Why might some dislike time-space compression?

Answer 10

Some may feel as if they no longer “feel at home” in a place they may have lived their whole lives, and feel a greater sense of dislocation from places they grew up in or currently live in.

Question 11

What is meant by a formal representation of a place, and what are some examples?

Answer 11

A representation of place as a result of large groups of people that can be held accountable for what they make
- e.g. Tourism boards/ brochures, state news, textbooks, OS Maps, Statistics etc.

Question 12

What is meant by an informal representation of place, and what are some examples?

Answer 12

Representations characterised by their “non- institutional” character, and sometimes their means of production too, created by individuals working outside formal public or private sector institutions.
- e.g. social media posts, YouTube videos, books, music, TV and Films.

Question 13

What are advantages and disadvantages of formal data?

Answer 13

• Formal data is officially sourced, reliable and usually created by large groups. They usually have a broader scale of information, can show changes over time and are easier to compare
• However they struggle to show diverse data, and show detail.

Question 14

What are advantages and disadvantages of informal data?

Answer 14

• Informal data gives a more personal and detailed view into a place from someone’s eyes, and can show a more diverse range of data.
• However informal data is always subjective, lacks the balance formal data has, and is usually at a very small scale.