Lecture notes
3.2.2 Changing Places
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- 3.2.2 Changing Places
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- AQA
Notes on: - The nature and importance of places - Changing places – relationships, connections, meaning and representation - Place studies
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3.2.2 Changing Places3.2.2.1 The nature and importance of places
The concept of place
Location + locale + meaning = place
- Locale – each place is made up of a series of locales or settings where everyday life
activities take place, such as an office, a park, a home or a church. These settings
affect social interactions and help to forge values, attitudes and behaviours- we
behave according to social rules. In terms of locale, a place is shaped by the people,
cultures and customs within it.
- Personal/ subjective meaning
- Social/cultural meaning
- Always changing or becoming – internal/ external changes
Academic geographers increasingly discuss the different aspects of place – this is called
multidimensionality of place. This may include subjective aspects such as emotional responses to
place, or film, photography, art and media representations of place.
Sense of place – refers to the subjective and emotional attachment people have to a place. People
develop a sense of place through experience and knowledge of a particular area. You get more
attached to a place if you have lived there longer.
Placemaking – the deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve
a community’s quality of life.
A perception of a place changes with experiences e.g. if you robbed somewhere you would see it as
a bad place with bad memories.
Theoretical approaches to place:
- Descriptive – the world is a set of places and each place that can be studied is distinct
- Social constructionist – places are a product of a particular set of processes occurring
at a particular time e.g Trafalgar Square was built to celebrate British naval victory in
the 1800s and could be understood as a place of empire and colonialism
- Phenomenological – not interested in uniqueness but in individual experiences and
the relationship between place and person
What is the tourist gaze?
The tourist gaze is organised by business entrepreneurs and governments, and consumed by the
public. This is as true of cultural sites as it is of adventure tourism. They choose what visitors are
allowed to access – they mediate our experience of the place. However religious beliefs, moral code,
family history, ethnicity ad education all influence how a tourist perceives a death site, for example.
Sometimes, people’s differing perceptions of a place can lead to conflict.
The promotion of place is crucial in the marketing of holiday destinations. Food items are
increasingly marketed in terms of the place in which they came and the popularity of particular
events may be linked to the reputation of the place at which they happen. E.g. Glastonbury music
festival. People may ‘buy into’ or ‘consume’ places.
, The important of place in human life and experience
The importance of place can be explored by looking at its impact on three aspects; identity,
belonging, and well-being. The placemaking movement, which has expanded rapidly in recent years,
places great emphasis on all three aspects.
Identity
Can be evident at a number of scales:
- Localism – an affection for an emotional ownership with a place. Rarely manifests
itself in a political sense but can be demonstrated in ‘nimbyism’ (not in my backyard)
which occurs when people are reluctant to have their local area affected by
development.
- Regionalism – consciousness of, or loyalty to, a distinct region with a population that
shares similarities.
- Nationalism – loyalty and devotion to a nation, which creates a sense of national
consciousness. Patriotism could be considered as an example of a sense of place.
Many people identify with place at a national level and this is usually strengthened by a common
language, National anthem, flag and through cultural and sporting events. A resurgence in the welsh
language and culture has highlighted a stronger national identity among the Welsh in recent years.
Religion too can be used to foster a sense of identity in place. At a local level, churches, mosques
and synagogues are places where people from the same identity come together to worship. There
may also be larger sacred places such as Mecca or Bethlehem, where people go on pilgrimages.
In London, the Occupy movement, campaigning against social and economic inequality around the
world, camped outside St Pauls Cathedral in the financial heart of the city. Similarly recognisable
sites were chosen in other parts of the world as the Occupy movement relies on the power of place
to attract attention and lodge itself in people’s memories.
A global sense of place
The economic and social geographer 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. She said that the character of a place
can only be seen and understood by linking that place to places beyond. “What we need, it seems to
me, is a global sense of the local, a global sense of place.”
Globalisation of place
Some argue that globalisation has made place less important as the forces of global capitalism have
eroded local cultures and produced identical or homogenised places. This can be seen through the
increased presence of global chains such as Starbucks in high streets all over the world. The
American novelist James Kuntsler talked of geography of nowhere – where processes such as urban
sprawl have led to community-less cities covering huge areas of countryside with identical shopping
malls, car parks and roads. – “every place is like no place in particular”. In the uk, the phrase ‘clone
town’ has been used to describe settlements where the high street is dominated by chain stores.
Placelessness – a place that could be anywhere because it lacks uniqueness. This occurs when global
forces have a greater influence on shaping a place than local factors.
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