Changing Places

Concept of Place

The word place has various dimensions. A location is a physical point which can be plotted onto a map or defined by a grid coordinate. A place is a location which has different meanings to various people. Relph aimed to “reimagine the static and dimensionless aspects of place” with his publication of “Place and Placelessness.” (1976)

For geographers, place is split into three key concepts:

1. Location: where a place is, the coordinates on a map.

2. Locale: takes into account the effect that people have on their setting. A place is shaped by people, cultures, and customs within it.

3. Sense of Place: the subjective and emotional attachment to place.

Theoretical Approaches to Place

The study of place is mainly divided into three approaches:

1. Descriptive Approach

   The idea that the world is a set of places that can be studied and are distinct.

2. Social Constructionist Approach

   Place is seen as a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time.

3. Phenomenological Approach

   How an individual person experiences a place, recognising a highly personal relationship between person and place.

Place

Place is made up of:

• Location

• Physical characteristics

  • eg topography

• Human characteristics

  • who lives there and what they’re like.

  • the human features of the landscape

  • eg built environment

• Flows in and out of the place

  • eg money, people, ideas, resources

• Sense of place

  • the emotional meanings the place has

Apart from the physical location, all aspects of place and the meanings are constantly changing. The physical characteristics change over long time scales (rivers) or over short times (volcanoes). The human characteristics can change over whole lifetimes (new people born in a place) or over short times (migration). The flows in and out change such as TNCs investing in a new factory in a place. The sense of place changes as an individual changes (the places a child played in will have a different meaning to the individual as an adult).

Importance of Place

Place has impact on human life and experience. The idea of place is important because many people create their identity based on the places they feel connected to. This is because individuals share characteristics that they feel bind them together as a group, creating a shared identity. The importance of place can be explored by looking at the impact on identity, belonging, and well-being.

Identity

Identity can be evident at a number of scales:

1. Local

   An affection for or emotional ownership of a particular place.

2. Regional

   Consciousness of and loyalty to a distinct region with a population that share similarities.

3. National

   The loyalty and devotion to a nation (patriotism).

Belonging

In the concept of place, belonging means to be a part of a community. This can be influenced by age, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, religion, and level of education. Race (based on biological and physical characteristics) and ethnicity (social group with common language, cultural traditions) can also influence a person’s sense of belonging.

Yi-Fu Tuan suggests that attachment (a feeling binding one subject with another) to a place grows over time. Attachment to place increases as knowledge and understanding of it deepens and experience of place increases. Experience can have different levels of intensity, the greater the intensity and number of experiences a person has in a place, the greater the depth of attachment.

Topophilia concerns the love of a place and having a strong attachment to it. Whereas Topophobia is the dislike of a place.

Well-Being

The well being of a place is affected by four key attributes:

1. Sociability

   For example, the diversity, neighbourhood quality, the pride people have, and the friendliness. It can be measured by population demographics, volunteerism, evening use, and even street life.

2. Uses and Activities

   For example, is the place fun, special, indigenous, or sustainable. This can be measured with the number of local business ownership, property values, rent values, and retail sales.

3. Comfort and Image

   For example, is the place safe, green, charming, attractive. This can be measured by crime statistics, sanitation ratings, building conditions, and environmental data.

4. Access and Links

   The proximity of place to others, how walkable the area is, its convenience and accessibility. Traffic data, transit usage, pedestrian activity, and parking usage patterns can help measure this.

These affect the well-being people associate with the place.

Global Sense of Place

Doreen Massey wrote about a global sense of place, in which she questioned the idea that places are static. She argued, instead, that places are dynamic, they have multiple identities and they do not have to have boundaries. Massey argued that the character of place can only be seen and understood by linking that place to places beyond.

Globalisation of Place

• Made place less important as local cultures are eroded by global capitalisation.

• Led to clone towns - identical and homogenised places.

• Caused some areas to have a sense of placelessness.

Some local places and cultures are resisting the power of globalisation. Some companies are increasingly having to adapt to the local marketplace. For example, adapting the architecture to fit in better or adapting the food to better accommodate for the local religion. This is Glocalisation.

EXAMPLE: Totnes, Deven campaigned against Costa setting up in their small-business town. Costa then dropped their development plans.

Insider and Outsider

Insider: The perspective of someone who knows a place well and is familiar, not only with its topography but also its daily rhythms and events.

Outsider: The perspective of someone who does not know a place well, or someone who is marginalised in a community, such as the homeless or minority groups.

There are many factors that can make a person feel like an insider or an outsider (age, gender, sexuality).

Categories of Place

Places can be categorised in various ways.

Near and Far Places

Near Places: Considered in a geographical sense, it is the area or region near or about a place, the surrounding district or neighbourhood. Near places can also be places that are close to one’s heart.

Far Places: Places that are far away geographically or have distant connection to someone emotionally. Also referred to as distant places.

Experienced and Media Places

Experienced Places: A place where someone has actually spent time within. The longer spent in a place, the stronger the sense of place can be.

Media Place: Places a person has only read about or seen within various forms of media or on the Internet. Exposure to social media can generate an experience of place without physically being there.

Media places lack Genius Loci - the prevailing character or atmosphere of a place.

Overall

Places can feel familiar to us because of our life experiences, this could be travelling, whereas other places will feel totally alien, distant, and far. People are more likely to feel like an insider in near places, as they are more likely to have experienced them and feel comfortable in them. However, not everyone will feel like an insider in near places - people may feel excluded from near places because of factors such as age, gender, sexuality.

Globalisation has impacted people’s experience of geographical distance.

• Improvements in travel technology mean it is quicker to go to far places, therefore can be experienced more easily and frequently.

• Improvements in ICT mean that people can be very familiar with media places.

• People can also remain closely connected with people and activities in far places via the internet.

Character of Place

Place character: Refers to the specific qualities, attributes, or features of a location that make it unique. Affected by endogenous and exogenous factors.

Endogenous Factors: Characteristics which originate internally.

Exogenous Factors: Characteristics which originate externally.

Endogenous Factors

Endogenous factors that are internal to a place can affect its character.

• Physical Factors

  • Location → where a place is

    • Places can be characterised by the features that are present because of their location.

      • EXAMPLE: A coastal place may be characterised as a port due to its direct proximity to the sea.

  • Topography → the shape of the landscape.

    • The relief and lie of the land can have a direct impact on character of place.

      • EXAMPLE: In a valley, places would be characterised as flat whereas a mountainous region would be characterised by steep slopes.

    • Topography will affect how settlements develop.

      • EXAMPLE: Flat places will be suitable for large-scale arable farming. Mountainous regions may be suitable for pastoral farming.

  • Physical Geography → natural physical features.

    • This can directly affect the character of place by affecting the landscape.

    • This can indirectly affect how settlements and economic characteristics develop.

  • Geology → dominance of rock types.

    • Dominance of rocks, mineral, precious ores, and soils affect the visual characteristics.

    • It has an indirect effect on economic characteristics by influencing the types of industries that can thrive in a region, such as mining.

• Human Factors

  • Land-use → Human activities that occur on land.

    • This is one of the most important human factors in directly defining the character of place.

      • EXAMPLE: A place could be characterised as rural if the land-use is predominantly farming, or urban if the land-use is predominantly commercial businesses.

    • Land-use changes overtime.

      • Deindustrialisation (process of manufacturing industries declining in wealthier countries) can lead to industrial land being replaced by other land uses.

  • Built environment and Infrastructure → aspects of places that are built by humans.

    • Infrastructure specifically refers to the structures built for transport, communication, and services.

      • EXAMPLE: Town and city centres will have higher density buildings, may have tower blocks, and are likely to have complex and dense networks of roads and rail-tracks.

    • Architectural style, age of buildings, and communication (roads, broadband, airports, etc) affect character of place.

  • Demographic characteristics → who lives in a place and what they are like.

    • Age, gender, education level, religion, birth and death rates, ethnicity, and population size and structure.

    • EXAMPLE: Many people retire to the seaside meaning that they can have a higher proportion of older people characterising the place as ‘old.’

  • Economic Characteristics → factors to do with work and money.

    • EXAMPLE: Kensington, London has a higher proportion of above average earners and low unemployment so is characterised as ‘wealthy.’

    • Processes such as gentrification (when wealthy people move into run down areas and improve the housing) change the built environment, demographics, and economics over time.

Exogenous Factors

Exogenous factors, commonly referred to as flows, originate from outside a place. These provide linkages and relationships with and to other places.

• People → the shifting flow of people

  • New cultures, food, music, and ways of living are imported into the place, changing its character.

    • EXAMPLE: Parts of the UK have an ethnically diverse population due to migration from other parts of the world. 27% of Birmingham are of Asian descent.

  • Tourism influences development of place.

    • EXAMPLE: The land-use and economic characteristics of Las Vegas are affected by tourism. The casinos and hotels are there for tourists, these create employment opportunities for the locals.

• Money and Investment → the shifting flows of capital

  • Linked with flows of resources.

  • Trade deals, tax, major events (eg sports competitions), new businesses, or movement of businesses influence character of place.

    • EXAMPLE: Investment into Stratford, London, before, during, and after it hosted the Olympics (2012) has had a long-lasting impact on its place character.

    • EXAMPLE: Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has a factory in Sunderland. The flow of investment from Japan has influenced some of the characteristics of Sunderland, including the land-use around the factory, the built environment, and the type of employment available.

  • The availability of raw materials, products, water, and energy affect economic characteristics of an area.

• Technological Change → the shifting flows of ideas

  • This considers the changes that have taken place because of innovations in technology.

  • Entrepreneurs may move to an area bringing new businesses with them.

  • Flows of ideas from the USA contribute to an “Americanisation” of many places around the world through changes in culture and language.

• Government rules and decisions

  • Governments can make decisions that impact areas.

  • EXAMPLE: Many of the BBCs functions were relocated from London to Manchester, helping to create Media City in Salford.

Dynamics of Change

Places are constantly changing because all the factors which affect character of place are constantly changing.

Historically, the character of place was heavily affected by endogenous factors. This original character has changed because of exogenous influences that have occurred over time.

Flows of people, money, resources, and ideas between places have increased. This is because of improvements in transport, which has made it easier for people and goods to be transported, and communications which allow people to communicate with anyone else on the planet instantly. These flows have caused more places to become more strongly connected to each other → globalisation.

Stakeholders: Groups in society whose actions have a huge role in constructing place identity.

• Stakeholders have the power to change and shape places through investment, voting, or protesting.

  • EXAMPLE: Focus E15, a campaign group who successfully protested against the demolition of the Carpenter’s estate in Stratford (a rapidly gentrifying area of London).

  • EXAMPLE: Brexit Referendum, the vote to leave the EU shows how voting can have a huge impact on character of place on a national scale.

Demographic Change

Demographic characteristics are to do with who lives in a place and what they are like. These can change due to the effects of changing external flows.

• Flows of People

  • Can change any of the demographic characteristics

  • EXAMPLE: