geo changing places - theory and in general

What is place?

A location with meaning - meaning can be personal or shared by groups in society, culturally at varying scales and change over time.
Created by human experiences.
Size does not matter and is unlimited
'Place' exists of 'space' that is filled with meanings and objectives by human experiences in this particular space

What is space?

Space' can be described as a location which has no social connections for a human being.
No value has been added to this space.
An area with no meaning

What is topophilia?

Love of a place
A concept developed by Yi-Fu Tuan to describe the bond between people and place arguing that it is through human perception and experience that we get to know places.

How does age affect experience of place?

Yi-Fu Tuan also argued that our experience and understanding of the environment and our attachment to it expands with age. As we get older these experiences broaden and we perceive places differently.

How does time affect experience of place?

Yi-Fu Tuan suggested attachment to a place grows stronger over time. As you have more experiences in a place, you are more likely to be attached with that place. Experiences can have different levels of intensity. The greater the intensity and number of experiences you have in a place, the greater the depth of attachment you may have to a place.

What does Jon Anderson say about place?

"From a culturally geographical point of view, therefore, places come by their meanings and identities as a result of the complex intersections of culture and context that occur within that specific location."

What is locale?

A locale is a geographic place at which there is or was human activity.where something happens or is sethas particular events associated with ittakes into account the effect that people have on their settinga place is shaped by people, cultures, and customs within it

What is location?

A location is the place where a particular point or object exists. It is the position of a particular point on the surface of the Earth. You can use coordinates to describe a location. Where a place is on a map.

Who wrote about Kilburn High Street?

Doreen Masse

yWhat is sense of place?

This refers to the subjective and emotional attachment people have to a place. People develop a unique 'sense of place' through experience and knowledge of a particular area. It is a multidimensional, complex construct used to characterize the relationship between people and spatial settings. It is a characteristic that some geographic places have and some do not, while to others it is a feeling or perception held by people.

What is place-making?

The deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve a community's quality of life.

What is the tourist gaze?

"Tourist Gaze", explained by sociologist John Urry as "the set of expectations that tourists place on local populations when they participate in heritage tourism, in the search for having an "authentic" experience. In response to tourist expectations and often cultural and racial stereotypes, local populations reflect back the "gaze" of the expectations of tourists in order to benefit financially".

What is an example of a place meaning changing?

Ground Zero (site of former World Trade Centre and memorial to 9/11 attacks) - has its own sense of place and emotional attachment Example of the tourist gaze Other examples include Auschwitz which was and still is its own town but is now the perception is of the concentration camp.

What is media?

Means of communication that reach or influence people widel

yWhat is an insider?

People who feel like they belong to a place and have a strong relationship with it, they know the comings and goings and everyday practices

What is an outsider?

People who feel out of place and that they do not belong

What does Relph say about insider/outsider?

"To be inside a place is to belong to it and identify with it, and the more profoundly inside you are the stronger is the identity with place" (Relph 1976)

What is belonging?

Belonging can be defined as attachment to a particular social group. The social group can vary in size and scale from the Family or local Community to the Nation or transnational community. To belong is to be part of the community, and is one of the key factors to make a place sustainable and successful. The extent to which one feels a sense of belonging to a place depends on factors such as age, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, race, religion, ethnicity, level of education. As globalisation and migration have increased, many places especially cities have become more ethnically and culturally diverse.

What is identity and what are its aspects?

Identity is the collection of attributes, beliefs and experiences that shape how an individual perceives themselves and how they are perceived by others. It encompasses personal, social and cultural elements, often evolving over time.

Aspects can include:
age
gender
sex
race
ethnicity
social class
disability
relationship status
religion
famil

yWhat is positionality?

Positionality refers to the how differences in social position and power shape identities and access in society. It's how you are positioned in relation to others. genderraceethnicityagereligionpoliticssocioeconomics groupclass etc

How can place/identity be considered at a local scale?

Localism - This is the preference for your area in close proximity to you. It involves affection for or emotional ownership of a particular place. This can be reflected in NIMBYism - Not In MY Back Yard, where people do not want changes or developments occurring in the region where they live. It can be viewed both positively and negatively.

How can place/identity be considered at a regional scale?

Regionalism - This is the consciousness of, and loyalty to, a distinct region with a population that shares similarities. This can manifest itself in claims for independence from larger bodies such as the nation state. Great examples of such separatism include the Basque country in North West Spain, Catalonia and the Island of Corsica. An alternative to separatism is devolution, where powers are moved into the regions from a central government, this has happened in the UK.

How can place/identity be considered at a national scale?

Nationalism - This is loyalty and devotion to a nation. It can be engineered by governments and media and is often described as patriotism.

How can place/identity be considered at a global scale?

Globalism - this is where people view themselves as truly global citizens and realise that their actions and lives are governed by forces at a planetary scale.

What percentage of 18-24 year olds vs 65+ are proud of being English?

18-24 -> 45% proud of being English 65+ -> 72% proud of being English

Why does London stand out in terms of place/identity

London was the hotspot for people who identified themselves as just British not English.

How is Luton an example of place-making?

When BBC's music festival 'Big Weekend' was hosted at Luton in 2024, it was seen as an opportunity to challenge the negative narrative often portrated about Luton, and a chance to prove the town's good side.

What does Saavreda say about the migrant experience?

"The migrant experience can reveal the contours of belonging in a specific society in ways that illuminate the often taken-for-granted formal and informal structures of everyday life"

How does immigration issues link to the idea of outsiders and insiders?

Immigrants who have come controversially/illegally and have only been in the UK for a short period tend to be treated and viewed as outsiders by established citizens, making it easier for people to want to send them far away. They are outside the social structures formally and informally.

How do immigration issues link to place?

Insiders are more likely to be against immigration, feeling a sense of ownership towards their place

How do fortress landscapes link to belonging?

Defensive design and hostile architecture make homeless people feel unwelcome and physically unable to be in an area.

What are insider features?

born in the area
permanent resident
passport
housing
right to welfare and benefitsright to vote
fluency in language
understands unspoken rules of society and conforms to social norms
feeling 'at home'

What are outsider features?

misunderstand society rules e.g. walking/standing side of escalator, making cultural mistakes
lack of fluency in the LOCAL language e.g. slang, idioms, dialects
limited rights to vote, work, benefits
not a permanent resident - foreign passport
feeling alienated

What is the descriptive approach to the study of place?

Descriptive approach: The world is a set of places and each place is distinct and can be studied

What is the social constructivist approach to the study of place?

Social constructivist approach: Place is a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time E.g. Trafalgar Square was built to commemorate a British naval victory and so could be understood as a place of empire and colonialism

What is the phenomenological approach to the study of place?

Phenomenological approach: Not interested in the unique characteristics of place or why it was constructed Rather, it focuses on how the individual experiences place, recognising the highly personal relationship between place and person Importance of Yi-Fu Tuan and
Edward Relph
Tuan: topophilia to describe the affective bond between people and place, it is through human perception and experience that we get to know places
Relph: the degree of attachment, involvement and concern that a person/group has for a particular place is critical in understanding place

What is glocalisation?

Multinational corporations adapting to the local marketplace e.g McDonald's tailoring their menu to suit the local tastes like teriyaki burgers in Japan

What is placelessness?

An area with no meaning

What is a clone town?

High street dominated by chain shops and cafes etc

Why are 'clone towns' considered 'placeless'?

Clone town = settlements where the high street is dominated by chain stores Geography of nowhere (James Kunstler)
processes such as urban sprawl have led to community-less cities covering huge areas of countryside with identical features like shopping centres, car parks, roads Placeless because there is no unique culture or experience to make the place - everywhere is the same

What is homogenisation?

Things are becoming increasingly the same e.g. clone towns becoming homogenised because they have so many global brands

How globalisation has led to the homogenisation of places?

Global capitalism has eroded local cultures to produce homogenised (identical) places e.g. through global chains like Starbucks

How did Totnes try to fight global capitalisation?

In 2012 75% of Totnes population signed a petition saying they would boycott any chain coffee shop that came to Totnes in response to Costa trying to open an outlet in the town
They supported their independently-owned outlets and were eager to prevent Totnes becoming a clone town After 8 months Costa dropped their plans
However, in 2019 a different chain coffee shop opened in Totnes - showcasing either their opposition lessened or that there is some inevitably to becoming a clone town

Why do ethnic minorities living in Britain feel excluded from rural places?

Historically, immigrants have moved to urban areas like large cities such as London, Manchester etc - as a result, do not feel very connected to the 'rural idyll' idealised British countryside, particularly in the South of England where there is a strong sense of patriotism Seen as very white areas, history of national propaganda as 'ideal Britain'
Barriers include: cost of visiting, transport problems, lack of knowledge about English countryside, lack of cultural habit, fear of discrimination, lack of culturally appropriate provisions

What could organisations involved with rural areas do to boost Black and ethnic minority visitor numbers?

Creating rural communities for people of colour e.g. Black Girls Hike creating a safe place for black women to explore the outdoors
Increased provisions for cultural minorities e.g. ethnic shops Integration with the 'white community' to educate and reduce divide

What are near places?

Places that are close, whether geographically or emotionally. Places that are familiar or have a connection with, does not have to be geographically near.

What are far places?

Places that are distant, whether emotionally or geographically. Geographically near does not necessarily create belonging. Places that are geographically far are now more familiar due to globalisation, media etc. Foreign, alien, different, divison between us vs them. Does not have to be geographically far to be a far place.

What are experienced places?

Places we have been to and developed our own sense of. Somewhere you have spent time in - some people think in order to create an emotional attachment, you need to have gone there - by visiting a place, geographers think a more intense experience leads to a stronger attachment due stimulation of all the senses - topophilia

What are media places?

Places we have formed a perception of based on what has been seen in the media. The reality of a place can be different from the media portrayal

What is topophobia?

Hate/fear of a place

What is Orientalism according to Edward Said?

Said studies the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism, the West's patronizing perceptions and fictional depictions of "The East" — the societies and peoples who inhabit the places of Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Orientalism, the Western scholarship about the Eastern World, was and remains inextricably tied to the imperialist* societies who produced it.

What is imperialism?

Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of power over foreign nations

What are imagined geographies?

The concept of imagined geographies (or imaginative geographies) originated from Edward Said, particularly his work on critique on Orientalism. Imagined geographies refers to the perception of a space created through certain imagery, texts, and/or discourses. For Said, imagined does not mean to be false or made-up, but rather is used synonymous with perceived. Despite often being constructed on a national level, imagined geographies also occur domestically in nations and locally within regions, cities, etc.

Why do imagined geographies of near and far matter?

Because a society's collective imagination is fundamentally political. Places that are far "have less value" and are subject to misconceptions of people, culture and place.

What is an imagined community?

Benedict Anderson depicts a nation as a socially-constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of a group.

What is a single story?

Chimamanda Adichie describes the 'single story' as a narrative that presents only one perspective, repeated again and again. She asserts that the danger of the 'single story' is that it can result in incomplete perspectives based on stereotypes.

What are endogenous factors?

Endogenous factors are internal factors that help shape the character of a place, physical as well as human. The characteristics of the place itself or factors which have originated internally. They are the local place factors and include location, topography, physical geography, land use, built environment and infrastructure, demographic and economic characteristics.

What are exogenous factors?

Exogenous factors are external and involve relationships with other places. They include the relationship of one place with other places and the external factors which affect this. Places do not exist in isolation they are affected by EXTERNAL FORCES. These factors can have a major impact upon a place.

Examples of endogenous factors

topography
physical geography like relief, drainage, altitute, soil and rock type
infrastructure
demographic characteristics
built environment like land use, housing quality, density
location - urban/rural, main roads, physical features like rivers and roads and coasts
socioeconomic characteristics like employment opportunities, amenities, educational attainment, income, health, crime rates, local clubs

Examples of exogenous factors

movement and flows of people, resources, money, investment, ideas

migration - diasporas and a multicultural community
economic change e.g. economic restructuring, urban decline as manufacturing moves overseas, deindustralisation
globalisation
mobility of people
newcomers can create conflict e.g. as new housing is built, buying second homes, gentrification

What are Shanghai's endogenous factors?

located on Yangtze river delta
centred around Huangpu river
flat land as it is on an alluvial plane, avg elevation 4m above sea level - used to be a lot of agriculture (rich soil due to alluvium) and fishing in the past but now entirely city
on China's east coast
population 25 million
98% population Han ethnic group
95% of population speaks Mandarin which is the dominant official language, 54% Shanghainese a local dialect
humid sub-tropical climate
high rise buildings
one of the world's major centers for finance, business and economics, research, science and technology, manufacturing, transportation, tourism, and culture

What are Shanghai's exogenous factors?

25% of all international migrants to China go to Shanghai
Port of Shanghai is the largest sea port in the world
hub for international trade and finance
one of China's most westernised cities - one of the 5 treaty ports forced to open to European trade during the first opium war
Shanghai stock exchangeShanghai free trade zone

What is character of place?

The character of a place refers to the physical and human features that help to distinguish it from another place.
This character may be linked strongly to the natural environment but it is more often a combination of natural and cultural features in the landscape, and generally included the people who occupy the place.

affected by exo and endo factors

what is place remaking

Place remaking (or place making): this term describes all the collected physical, economic, social, and cultural changes that can be carried out in a place, including redevelopment, reminaging and rebranding. 

what is reimaging

The strategic aim (though it may not always be strategic) is the cultural reinvention of a place.

It may involve formal-sector players creating new visual images or places in promotional images, but also includes informal representation as a result of media. Individually or collectively, they begin to change the image of a place in the media they produce. This positively affects the perceptions of outside groups. informal reimaging is at the heart of the gentrification process - in recent years, new residential incomers have been drawn to inner city neighbourhoods which the media present as artistic and fashionable.

Reimaging disassociates a place from negative pre-existing images e.g. crime, poor housing, deprivation, dereliction, pollution. It can then attract new investment, retailing, tourists, residents.

This is a psychological process. They are changing the narrative surrounding an area - this can take a long time as people’s perspectives are embedded.

what is rebranding

The strategic aim is to increase ‘sales’.

A deliberate strategy usually adopted by formal-sector players which aims to reinvent places for the economic reason of marketing them e.g. as tourist destinations, residential areas, sites for business investment. This may include a deliberate effort to shed an old or unwanted reputation. Local councils and tourists boards can debote substantial amounts of money in the creation of new advertising slogans or imagery, with paid assistance from professional PR/advertising agencies. Rebranding is often undertaken by a partnership of public and private sector investment, including major corporations.

Rebranding is the way a place is redeveloped and marketed so it gains a new identity and attract. It may include reimaging and regeneration.

This is a psychological process.

what is regeneration

The strategic aim is environmental transformation.

Regeneration and redevelopment include large-scale forms of state-intervention and private sector inward investment which attempt to transform an area, often on a large scale. The aim is to attract new activity investment whilst also stimulating local enterprise. There is often a significant physical change to an area, such as demolition, decontamination, land use change (e.g. bringing new flagship retail and leisure facilities, housing, public transport). Also concerned with social change e.g. new schools and recreation.

Regeneration is a long term process involving redevelopment and the use of social, economic and environmental action to reverse urban decline and create sustainable communities.

This is a physical process. Very expensive.

what is an actor/player network

Actor network (or player network): A collaboration between different stakeholders (including local players and external agencies) who are seeking to collectively bring or resist change in a place or environment. 

This can also be a point of conflict as people can feel excluded from the network e.g. locals, stakeholders e.g. Brick Lane

why is there a case for place remaking

Has any place been left unaffected by the sweeping global economic and technological changes and challenges of recent decades? It seems unlikely. The effects of these changes are clear: from the Clyde shipyards and cotton mill of Manchester to the coalfields of South Wales and London’s Docklands, the majority of traditional jobs once found in the cities and regions are now long gone. Moreover, some newer forms of work that supposedly ‘replaced’ traditional employment - such as jobs in data call centres and retail parks - do not necessarily provide local communities with a secure future. 

what causes structural economic change

• automation and technological advancements in machinery

• deindustrialisation

• foreign competition (state subsidised, lower cost of labour = lower costs and lower prices)

• rise of imports

• outsourcing

• containerations

A lot of this is due to globalisation.

why should governments do something about economic change

• Many deprived/derelict areas remain deprived. A study by Sheffield Hallam University in 2014 concluded that 30 years after the UK’s mines were closed, coalfield communities continued to have the lowest employment in the UK.

• Environmental blight - hangover from industry - deterrent to investment? 

• Skills shortages - cycle of deprivation? 

• Locational ties - leading to an inability to relocate. 

• Political representation/duty  

• prevent workers migrating abroad

• prevent people going on benefits

• more tax paid

why should governments do nothing about economic change

One view is that politicians should do nothing or as little as possible. This laissez-faire reasoning derives from a belief that economic change will ultimately leave society as a whole better off ‘even if it brings hardship in the short term’. New employers and forms of employment, so the argument goes, will eventually move to regions where there is a surplus of unemployed labour (and who are therefore prepared to work for lower wages than people in other more prosperous areas), thereby restoring economic growth in those places in the longer term. Alternatively, Norman Tebbit, the Employment Secretary in 1981, implied that unemployed people should ‘get on a bike’ and seek work elsewhere. However, there is very little evidence to these arguments. 

how did Cornwall reimage