Changing Places Glossary Flashcards

Accessibility

• How easily available a place is to reach, depending on transport links like roads and public transport (trains, buses).

Agents of Change

• People impacting a place through living, working, or trying to improve it.

• Examples: residents, community groups, corporate bodies, MNCs, local/central government, media.

Architecture

• The built environment shapes the lived experience of places.

• "Placeless" or "inauthentic" places lack a sense of place.

• Examples: roadside strip malls, gas stations, new housing estates.

Evidence of Regeneration

• Changes to the built environment, e.g., exterior of flats, interior design, modern furnishings, landscaping.

Art

• Paintings can depict romantic, idyllic, imagined places, often perpetuated by tourism.

• Examples: John Piper (Henley artist), Tracy Emin (Fournier Street).

Artistic Representation

• Description or portrayal of places by creatives (e.g., paintings, poems).

Audio-Visual Media

• Communication forms combining visuals and audio (e.g., film, television).

Big Data

• Large datasets (e.g., census data) that can be stored indefinitely.

Bio Mapping

• Mapping emotions people show towards a specific place.

Blogs

• Internet texts that can express a sense of place.

• Example: Aplin finds Henley dull; the Gentle Author writes about Spitalfields culture.

Brownfield Site

• Land previously used for industrial/commercial purposes, considered for redevelopment.

Built Environment

• Man-made surroundings providing the setting for human activity (buildings, parks).

Cartography

• The practice of creating and producing maps.

Census Data

• Population statistics collected every 10 years by the government.

Change

• Transitions, developments, or alterations to a place (real or perceived).

Clone Town

• Urban retail areas dominated by national/international chain stores.

Coding

• Analyzing interview answers by developing a classification system and categorizing responses.

Continuity

• The consistent character of a place (real or perceived).

Corporate Bodies

• Organizations working together with a common goal.

Counter-Mapping

• Bottom-up process of people creating their own maps based on local knowledge.

Cultural Change

• Transition in customs, social behavior, or creative ideas of a place.

Cultural Characteristics

• Traditions and customs shaping a place's identity (e.g., religion, practices).

Cultural Diversity

• Variety of cultural/ethnic groups within a society.

Demographic Change

• Transition in the composition of a place's population.

Demographic Characteristics

• Features of the population (e.g., age, gender).

Dereliction

• The state of abandoned and dilapidated buildings.

Descriptive Approach

• Studying places by describing their physical and human characteristics.

Digital or Augmented Place

• Smartphones providing information about a place; mapping habits, crime, voters.

Economic Change

• Transition in the financial situation of a place.

Economic Characteristics

• Aspects of a place's financial systems contributing to its identity (e.g., income, investment).

Economic Inequalities

• Differences in wealth/income within a place.

Endogenous Factors

• Internal forces contributing to a place's character (e.g., location, land use).

Exogenous Factors

• External forces contributing to a place's character (e.g., links to other places).

Experienced Place

• A place as interpreted by a visitor or resident.

External Agencies

• Governments, corporate bodies impacting a place's identity.

Externality

• A factor affecting quality of life that individuals can't change (e.g., access to open space).

Far

• Knowing less about distant places; time-space convergence suggests places are getting closer.

Function

• Activities taking place in a settlement.

• Examples: Market Town, Port, Industrial Town, Resort, Dormitory town.

Gentrification

• Renovation of deteriorated urban areas by affluent residents (e.g., Fournier Street).

Geo-Located Data

• Facts and statistics relevant to a specific place.

Geospatial Data

• Facts and statistics with a geographical component.

GIS Applications

• Programs for analyzing geospatial data.

Global Institutions

• Businesses with global influence and presence in multiple countries.

Glocalisation

• Products/services distributed globally but tailored to local markets.

Government Policies

• Actions taken by the government to improve a place.

Graffiti

• Illicit writing/drawing on walls, often associated with youth culture.

• Banksy argues it gives a voice to the marginalized; street art in Brick Lane/Spitalfields.

• Example: Stik's burka clad figure.

• Henley Trend: Putting tiny doors on trees.

Greenfield Site

• Land previously not built on, considered for development.

Homogenisation

• Making things uniform, leading to places becoming indistinct.

Identity

• Sense of belonging to a place (locals, regional, national).

• Insiders: Individuals sharing positive sense of a village.

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)

• UK government study measuring deprivation across England.

Infrastructure

• Essential services enabling or enhancing living conditions.

• Examples: transport, communications, water supply, education, healthcare, law enforcement.

Insider Perspective

• Attitude of residents/workers towards their environment.

International Institutions

• Businesses with presence in one or more countries.

Interviews

• Generating insights about sense or perception of place; disadvantages include interviewer bias.

Land Use

• Human activity in an area (farming, industry, residential).

• Rural: Farming/forestry dominate.

• Urban: Commercial dominates.

• Land use affects the built environment and changes over time.

Liveability

• Characteristics of urban areas making life comfortable.

• Includes amenities, job opportunities, political stability, safety; linked to social welfare.

• Measured by Global Liveability Ranking.

Lived Experience

• First-hand account of encountering a place.

Locale

• Place where something happens or is set.

Location

• 'Where' a place is (coordinates on a map).

Meaning

• Individual/collective perceptions of place; varies between people.

• Example: Brick Lane – different groups attach different values.

Media Place

• Representation of a place by communication outlets (TV, radio, internet).

Multinational Corporations (MNC)

• Organization operating in multiple countries with centralized management.

Music

• Songs evoking a feeling for a place (e.g., Newport state of mind).

Near and Far Places

• Geographical distance vs. emotional connection; 'near' doesn't automatically foster belonging.

Newspapers

• Tend to sensationalize characteristics of places (e.g., negative portrayal of inner cities).

• Example: Henley characterized as expensive.

Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)

• Not-for-profit voluntary establishment.

Novels

• Stories evoking a sense of place (e.g., Monica Ali’s Brick Lane, Ian McEwan’s on Chesil Beach).

Objective

• Not influenced by personal feelings.

Oral Source

• Spoken information about a place.

Outsider Perspective

• Attitude of those unfamiliar with a place; may feel marginalized.

Perception

• How a place is interpreted/understood.

Perception of Place

• How a space is viewed, influenced by media or experience.

Phenomenological Approach

• Focus on how individuals experience a place; understanding attachments is critical.

Photographs

• Reality may vary; photo editing, weather, viewpoint can change images.

Place

• Location with meaning; can be personal or shared.

Place Marketing

• Using PR to improve perceptions of a place (e.g., tourist campaigns).

Place Meaning

• Individual/collective perceptions of place.

Place Prejudice

• Negative views reinforced by media (e.g., inner cities).

Placelessness

• Loss of uniqueness, places looking similar.

Placemaking

• Shaping the environment to facilitate social interaction.

Place-Memory

• Ability of a place to evoke the past; material artifacts and preservation of buildings.

Poetry

• Illustrating places subjectively; evoking feelings.

Primary Employment

• Jobs extracting raw materials (farming, mining).

Qualitative Data

• Non-numerical data (interviews, photos).

Quantitative Data

• Numerical data; criticized for lacking in-depth description.

Rebranding

• Discarding negative perceptions, giving a place a new identity.

Re-imaging

• Changing views, generating positive feelings about a place.

Relationships and Connections

• Influence of flows of people, resources, money, ideas.

Reliability

• Secondary sources are subjective; use multiple sources.

Representation

• How a place is portrayed/seen; varies between people.

Rural

• Wholesome living, simplicity.

• Gemeinschaft: Small, inward-looking society.

Secondary Employment

• Manufacturing products.

Sense of Place

• Subjective and emotional attachment; developed through experience.

Shifting Flows

• Demographic change caused by migrants.

Social Characteristics

• Qualities of people in a place (attitudes, ethnicity, class).

Social Cleansing

• Removal of 'undesirable' social classes.

Social Constructionist Approach

• Place as a set of social processes.

Social Inequalities

• Unequal opportunities based on statistics.

Statistics

• Quantifiable data; can be selectively used and lacks human experience.

Subjective

• Based on personal feelings/opinions.

Television and Film

• Places forming backdrops; can generate positive/negative perceptions.

Tertiary Employment

• Jobs providing a service (teachers, doctors).

Text

• Newspapers, novels showing different views of places.

Topography

• Surface features of a landscape.

Topophilia

• Love of a place.

Topophobia

• Fear of a place.

Tourist Agency Material

• Leaflets encouraging visitors.

Tourist Gaze

• What tourists see, organized by tourist industry professionals.

Transnational Corporation (TNC)

• Organization operating in multiple countries without centralized management.

Urban

• Hectic, culturally sophisticated.

• Gesellschaft: Ever-changing life of a cosmopolitan city.