2b: Spatial Interactions

what influences accessibility (2)

1. knowledge

2. cost

define spatial interactions

how people, goods, or ideas move from one place to another & how connected places are

• movement between 2 or more places

what affects spatial interactions (3)

1. new transport mode

   • airplanes, high speed trains

2. infrastructure

   • roads, railways, airports

3. affordability

   • cheaper transport = more people can travel

what influences humans use of space

1. perceptions of a place

   • decision making for migration (do people think its safe, fun, rich, poor?)

   • marketing

     • affects where they move/shop

2. distance & perception of distance

   • a place may be close physically, but if its hard to reach (cost, homes, education) it feels far

why do geographers care about spatial interactions

to understand:

1. how space is used

2. why people move or want to connect between places

define “use of space”

→ how human activity fills and shapes geographical areas

• how people live in, move through, or organize places

list some influences over use of space

1. awareness

2. cultural tendencies

3. money

4. transportation modes

5. distance (absolute & perceived)

   • mental maps

define mental maps

how you picture a place in your head

• based on what you remember, your experiences, what stands out to you

• different for every single person

distance decay: what does this graph mean

→ the farther something is from you, the less likely you are to interact with it

what is the first law of geography

distance decay

T/F Near things are more related than distant things

T

define friction of distance

→ distance exerts a “force” similar to friction on humans

• aka distance makes travel harder

• longer distance = feels more resistance to going

  • less likely to go to far place unless it’s really worth it

which has higher friction: walking to vancouver or flying? explain

walking = high friction (takes forever)

flying = low friction (fast and easy)

what does high and low friction mean

high - hard to travel & takes more time, energy and money

• less likely to go

low friction = easy to travel (fast, cheap, convenient)

• more likely to go

how is Millau Viaduct an example of reducing friction

Millau Viaduct

→ reducing friction of a distance from France to Spain 

• Before the bridge: travel was slower and harder through the valley 

  • High friction 

• After the bridge: travel became faster and smoother through the valley 

  • faster travel time

  • expensive but worth it

  • Low friction

why do geographers care about spatial interactions? explain the following

1. increase interaction

2. decrease interaction

3. change the type

4. change the timing

1. increase interaction

   • use ads to attract people to a store

2. decrease interaction

   • pandemic: stop people from gathering

3. change the type

   • get people to take bus instead of driving

4. change the timing

   • use higher prices during rush hour to make people travel at diff times (congestion pricing)

define congestion pricing. explain using Singapore’s electronic road pricing

→ charging people more money to use roads during busy times/rush hour

• reduces traffic by making people travel at diff times

• reduces overcrowding

singapore’s electronic road

• drivers would have to pay money to use roads during rush hours

• impact:

  • 25,000 fewer cars on the road during rush hour

  • roads became faster

  • more carppooling

  • people were driving during off-peak hours to avoid the fee

what does it mean when we say distance has control

→ affects and limits what people do

• eg. you’ll go to a mall 5 min away but not one 30 min away

controls:

• how often you go somewhere

• if you go at all

• what kind of transportation you use

how would you reduce friction of distance on the UW website?

1. display attractive pictures (summer, no winter)

2. virtual campus tours

   • makes campus seem more familiar

3. welcoming people

4. comfortable and productive places

list why spatial interactions occurs

→ aka why do people, goods, or ideas move from one place to another

1. resources

2. labour and employment

3. opportunities

4. cost

5. reputation

6. perceptions

who is the person who explained why spatial interaction hapens

edward ullman

what are the 3 factors that explain spatial interaction (according to Edward Ullman). explain each

complementarity

→ one place has something (supply) and another place needs it (demand) = gives reason to move

• desire

• purchasing power (money)

• transportation

• toronto has jobs. you in waterloo wants jobs. so you commute to toronto for the job.

transferability

→ can the thing actually be moved?

• depends on: cost and timing (acceptable)

• eg. you want apples from a farm. if shipping is cheap and fast = trade happens

intervening opportunity

→ something closer pop up that meets the same need

• if it’s just as good, you pick the closer option

• eg. you were going to drive 30 min to get coffee, but a new coffee shop opened 5 min away. you switch. new place is intervening opportunity

explain what movement bias is and 4 controls

movement bias

→ things don’t move randomly

• certain paths/directions are more likely due to different controls

4 controls:

1. distance

2. time and cost

3. direction

4. network eg. road patterns

define and explain the 3 types of diffusion

expansion diffusion (contagious)

→ spreads from person to person

• occurs when people are close together

• eg. a cold spreads from school → family

• no one moves, but the idea/disease spreads

relocation diffusion

→ someone/something physically changes location

• eg. a person emigrates to another country

hierarchical diffusion (network diffusion)

→ spreads from place to place through a hierarchical structure/network

• spreads by connected places

• eg. diseases spreads in places where people gather in structured ways:

examples:

• Church

  • sick pastor shakes hands with 100 people. people go home and spread to their family and friends.

  • the disease doesn’t stay within the church, it spreads to separate interconnected areas

• Airplane

  • a sick person boards a plane in toronto and lands in new york

  • everyone on the plane gets sick + some passengers go on more flights to other countries

  • the disease skips town and jumps between cities

assign what types of diffusion each is

A: expansion/contagious diffusion

B: Hierarchical diffusion

C: Relocation diffusion

list what type of diffusion each one is:

1. technology

2. exercise trends

3. political movements

4. food/diet trends

5. disease

1. hierarchical: spreads from cities, influences, rich people first

2. contagious + hierarchical

3. relocation + contagious: people bring new ideas to places (relocation) and get people to join locally (contagious)

4. hierarchical + contagious: starts in cities with social media (hierarchical), then spreads by word of mouth (contagious)

5. all 3

covid-19 is what type of diffusion

all 3

relocation

• someone from wuhan, china boarded a plane to italy= spread the virus there

hierarchical

• spread through airports to major cities to hotels

contagious

• spread from person to person through direct contact

• eg. cough, close contacts

T/F Every person has a mental map

T

T/F Mentap maps of a specific region are the same for everyon

F

• no two mental maps are alike

• based on a person’s personal experience and memories

4 things that mental maps reveal

1. spatial awareness + lack of awareness

   • shows what places you know well + what places you ignore

2. priorities

   • you remember places that matter the most to you

   • eg. school, gym, home

3. psychology

   • shows your feelings or fears

   • you avoid an area that makes you feel unsafe

4. incorrect knowledge

   • mental maps can be wrong

   • you might think something is far when its actually close

how do mental maps dictate behaviour

it influences how you act (behaviour)

eg. you think a nearby place is far, so you avoid it

eg. you choose to visit places you remember fondly of and feel safe in & avoid areas that appear boring or unsafe

eg. how you travel - you take the route you believe is the fastest, even if it isn’t

what is spatial awareness

knowing where things are around you + how they relate to each other

how do mental maps help identify the following

1. service gaps

2. awareness gaps

3. invisible features

4. differences between individuals

5. personal attributes

6. lack of knowledge

1. service gaps

   • where people feel services like police or healthcare is missing

2. awareness gaps

   • people may not be aware of common services like stores

3. invisible features

   • identifies areas that aren’t marked on real maps

   • eg. gang zones or high-crime unsafe areas

4. differences between individuals

   • everyone sees places differently

   • locals vs. newcomers, men vs. women

5. personal attributes

   • someones age, gender, culture

6. lack of knowledge

   • people may not know where to go during an evacuation = dangerous

You must be ____ of a place before you can take advantage of it

aware

how are mental maps useful for planning out evacuation routes during tsunamis

• talk about the issue and solution

It was discovered majority of citizens lived in dangerous hazard tsunami zones

• Professionals spoke with survivors and what their escape plan was

• They would map the responses in a mental map

Response

• didn’t have a plan

• used the same escape route

  • unsafe bc it can lead to overcrowding and road block

• trying to run away rather than finding a tall building

Solution

• Build new roads and ask citizens to use certain roads based on where they lived

• Made it easier to evacuate an entire community within a couple minutes

• add signs that point to locations of tall buildings

define hazard awareness + examples of it in the tsunami evacuation video

→ recognizing dangers before they cause damage

• being alert to potential risks and knowing when to act, to avoid it

video

• delayed evacuation: people not realizing how serious tsunami is

• non-evacuation: not believing it’s that serious

• people trying to outrun the wave by fleeing horizontally, rather than finding a tall building

Your spatial behaviour depends on your spatial ________

awareness

naturally, people choose the solution that make the most sense based on what they know about a place

Note: important to be spatially aware rather than rely on mental maps, especially during emergencies