Nature and importance of places

Question 1

Define place

Answer 1

A location with meaning.

• Can be meaningful if To individuals they are personal and subjective.

At a social or cultural level, meanings can be shared by different groups of people.

Question 2

What are the 3 different aspects of place?

Answer 2

• Location = This is where the area is on a map.
• Locale = place where something happens, or is set, or that had particular events associated with it, causing different behaviour, takes into account effect people have on their setting
• Sense of place = This is the subjective or emotional attachment a person has to a place, people can develop a sense of place through knowledge and experience of a particular area.

Question 3

How important is ‘place’ in human life and experience?

Answer 3

• Places are extremely important to human life and experience as they can be interacted with every day and/or hold incredibly meaningful memories to people.

Question 4

Why might different people have different perceptions of and attachment to the same place?

Answer 4

• The sense of place is the different meaning of the place to different people.
• This could be because they have different experiences of the place and may have visited at different times.
• If people have contrasting views of a place, they may want it to be treated differently which could create conflict.

Question 5

What are the 3 different approaches to place?

Answer 5

• Descriptive = idea that the world is a set of places and each place can be studied and is distinct, Can be studied through a description of its physical and human characteristics
• Social constructive = sees place as a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time.
• Phenomenological = Places are defined through human experiences. It is the connection between place and person that transforms unknown spaces into familiar places. Interested in how a particular person experiences place, recognising a highly personal relationship betweeen place and person

Question 6

What does the term “topophilia” describe?

Answer 6

The affective bond between people and place.

Question 7

What is critical in our understanding of place?

Answer 7

• The degree of attachment,involvement and concern that a person or group have for a particular place

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• Having a cultural approach = Places are given meaning by the traces that exist in them. Physical traces such as buildings and historic monuments and emotional traces such as events

Question 8

A sense of place

Answer 8

• Places are dynamic, with multiple identities and no boundaries.
• They are constantly changing and moulded by the outside influences of the wider world

Question 9

Define perception of place

Answer 9

• This is the way in which a place is viewed or regarded by people.
• It can be influenced by media representation + personal experience

Question 10

What are the 3 scales of identity?

Answer 10

• Localism = an affection and or an emotional ownership of aparticular place. eg your home
• Regionalism = Loyalty and devotion to a nation which creates a sense of national consciousness e.g British
• Nationalism = A consciousness of and a loyalty to a distinct region with a population that shares similarities

Question 11

What is placemaking?

Answer 11

This is the deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve a community’s quality of life.

Question 12

Placelessness

Answer 12

• Many believe globalisation has given rise to a new geographical era of ‘placelessness’ where global capitalism has eroded local culture and localised identities e.g Starbucks on high streets all over the world

Question 13

How does globalisation impact the character of place?

Answer 13

• Politics
• Increased production of goods and services

. - Increase in interconnection

• Increase in trade with more MNCs
• Culture

Question 14

Glocalisation

Answer 14

• Response to globalisation.
• Centres on the promotion of local goods and services and the adaption of global products to the specific locality in an effort to regain local cultures and identities

Question 15

What is meant by clone towns

Answer 15

• This term is used to describe settlements where the high street is dominated by chain stores.

- It is difficult to determine where a place is if the high streets of other places are similar.

- 50 small independent shops close each week because of clone towns

Question 16

What are the advantages of having chain stores on high streets?

Answer 16

• Creates jobs
• Attracts people to the area
• Some money goes into the local economy
• Better quality of life
• Better perception of place
• Attracts more people to the area so starts the positive multipler effect

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of chain stores on high streets?

Answer 17

• Loss of local businesses
• Profits may not be spent in the local area.
• Loss of place identity
• Less range of shops
• Service is less personal
• Loss of character and tradition
• Conflict

Question 18

What 3 aspects can be used to explore the importance of place to humans?

Answer 18

• Identity = Depth of feeling and knowledge and understanding of a place. Your home and geographical location forms part of your identity
• Belonging = being part of a community. to which one feels a sense of belonging depends on Religion, Gender and Age
• Well-being = Different factors will be important to different groups when promoting happiness and wellbeing.

Question 19

INSIDERS

Answer 19

• They develop a sense of place through their everyday experiences in familiar settings.
• Daily rhythms +Shared experiences is crucial in developing a sense of place for insiders
• NIMBY = opposition of development, as people have stronger relationships with places they are familiar with

Question 20

OUTSIDERS

Answer 20

• The sense of place Is more vague and abstract
• Their view is often about The discovery of a place as well as their personal view of entering a landscape and learning about that place.
• They can sometimes feel out of place
• e.g ethnic minorities living in Britain feel excluded from rural areas as They may not feel welcomed by the British people.

Question 21

What are the four categories of place?

Answer 21

• Near places = Those which are close to us. Near places are subjective.
• Far places. Those that are distant. They may feel ‘far’ away emotionally, even if they are physically close.
• Experienced places = These are places that a person has spent time in.
• Media places = These are places that a person has only read about or seen on TV or film. The reality of a place could be different to that put across by the media

Question 22

What are the two key meanings that near and far could have in terms of place?

Answer 22

• They could refer to the geographical distance between places.
• They could refer to the emotional connection with a particular place and how comfortable a person feels within that place

Question 23

Why may far places feel more familiar or comfortable?

Answer 23

• This is because of globalised culture, travel and media.

- Time space converge = This is the idea that distances between two locations have decreased due to developments in transport and communication.

Question 24

How can an area be both near and far?

Answer 24

It can be geographically far but the person may have visited it numerous times.

Question 25

What turns undifferentiated space into place?

Answer 25

• Experience
• Undifferentiated space is a space that a person only has a vague idea about.

Question 26

What is place character?

Answer 26

Place character relates to the specific qualities, attributes, or features of a location that make it unique.

Question 27

Factors affecting the character of place

Answer 27

Social economic factors = employment opportunities, amenities, education attainment opportunities, income, health

• Physical geography = relief, altitude, aspect, drainage, soil and rock type
• Demographic factors = population size and structure (age and gender), ethnicity
• Location = urban or rural, proximity to other settlements, main roads and physical features
• Built environment = land use, age and type of housing, building density and material
• Cultural factors = heritage, religion, language
• Mobility of the population for work and leisure
• Political factors = role and strength of local councils

Question 28

Agents of change

Answer 28

• These are people who impact on a place
• They try impact a change Through living, working and or trying to improve a place

. - e.g Community groups

Question 29

What has changed the economic structure of a place?

Answer 29

De industrialisation - which has led to unemployment + Urban decline in cities with a manufacturing tradition.

Question 30

What happens as places develop?

Answer 30

Exogenous and external factors become more and more important as initial functions diminish due to technological advances

Question 31

What is meant by exogenous factors?

Answer 31

• This is the relationship of one place with other places and the external factors that affect this

. - Shifting flows of people, resources, money and investment shape the demographic, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of a place

Question 32

What are endogenous factors?

Answer 32

• The characteristics of a place itself or the factors which have originated internally.
• include Location, physical geography, land use and social and economic characteristics including population size and employment issues.

Question 33

List 6 exogenous factors

Answer 33

• Trade links
• Mobility of the population
• Investment into the area
• Government policy
• Proximity to rivers
• Migration rates

Question 34

What are 10 endogenous factors?

Answer 34

• Age of housing
• Size of population
• Heritage, language and religion of population
• Soil and rock type
• Ethnicity of population
• Proximity to rivers
• Relief of land
• Land use Economic structure
• Mobility of the population