Changing Spaces, Making Places
- A place is a feeling or perception held towards a specific space. This could be
informed by age, gender, sexuality, religion.
- A space is an area which does not hold the same meaning as a place
- One person’s “space” could be another’s “place”
Characteristics Of The Identity Of a Place
1. Socio-economic ~ income, employment, family status, education
2. Physical Geography ~ geology, altitude, drainage, slope angle, rivers, aspect
3. Built Environment ~ age and style of buildings, density of houses, road pattern/layout,
building materials
4. Demography ~ number of inhabitants, age, gender, ethnicity
5. Cultural ~ religion, societies e.g. WI, local clubs, local traditions
6. Political ~ local, regional and national government, housing/resident associations
How Do We Understand Place?
- Places are defined in two different ways:
1. A place can have an objective meaning: address, set of
coordinates
2. A place can have subjective meaning: an aspect which has
been added by humans
- Fundamentally, place = location + meaning (objective + subjective)
- For example 10 Downing Street can be plotted on a map, but it also
represents the political leader of the country
- Although there is a multidimensionality to place, geographers tend to
refer to 3 key aspects:
1. Location ~ “where” a place is in terms of map coordinates, site and situation
2. Locale ~ takes into account the effect that people have on a place, in terms of
locale a place is shaped by its people, cultures, customs, character and its
history
3. Sense of Place ~ refers to the subjective emotional attachment to a place
which may completely vary from person to person shaped by emotions,
interpretations, importance and perspective
- For example, in Chiswick, you could say:
1. Locations = W4 Postcode, by the Thames
2. Locale = Chiswick House, boat race finish line
3. Sense of Place = where my own house and friends live
Points of View
Yi-Fu Tuan referred to the term topophilia to describe the affective bond between people
and place and argued that it is through human perception and experience that we get to
know places. According to Tuan, place does not exist in observable boundaries and is
besides a visible expression of a specific time period. Edward Relph argued that the
degree of involvement, attachment and concern for a place is most critical in developing
and understanding of space.
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, Changing Spaces, Making Places
People’s Perception of Place
- Perception is an individual thing and therefore a person’s individual characteristics
influence how they see the world
- They vary based on a number of factors including experience, mood, current
situation, future aspirations, stage of life
- To remember the key factors use the acronym GRASP:
● Gender, Religion, Age, Sexuality, Role Performed
- Gender
● Traditionally men and women are associated with different places, most
notably private vs public in the past (“a woman’s place is in the home”),
sporting events
● Offices and factories were hugely male dominated whilst homes and societies
were the woman’s place
● This was a huge part of why the female voice was not heard as they were
excluded from the decision making places
● Nowadays efforts are being made to try and change this as equality becomes
more important
● Gender also impacts the perceived safety of a place, as women can often feel
particularly vulnerable in isolated areas or at night
● This creates a map of geographies of fear which is increasingly important
when designing cities
- Religion
● People give locations spiritual meanings, these
can be either natural landforms (e.g. Uluru) or
buildings (e.g. churches, mosques)
● There is increasing sensitivity to native
spirituality in countries such as the US and
Australia (Uluru used to be referred to as Ayers
Rock, a mark of colonialism)
● Ancient landmarks, like Stonehenge, had
spiritual meaning when they were built which
has since been widely lost as times change
● Religious meaning can also be given to cities such as Jerusalem, which holds
great significance in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, this has also caused
conflict however
● Religious places are also associated with peace and refuge, e.g. Lourdes in
France where thousands of Catholics go each year on pilgrimage as it
supposedly has healing powers
- Age
● Perceptions change as you get older, a 5 year old sees the park as day trip, a
40 year old sees it as a cut through to work
● As you go through life you have to move location, often dependent on your
socioeconomic status, young people/students live nearer their place of
work/study so they have all they need in a close range as they may not be
able to afford a car or constant public transport
● Those with families may choose to live in the suburbs instead with better
access to schools and a calmer environment
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, Changing Spaces, Making Places
- Sexuality
● As there is greater acceptance
of different sexualities and
genders, LGBTQ+ groups have
gravitated towards specific
places
● Certain areas, such as the
Castro District in San Francisco,
have been identified as
LGBTQ+ zones
● People may feel safer in these
areas as they are surrounded by
people with a shared trait, so they feel able to act themselves
● It also allows political representatives that represent social groups to be
elected
● The rebranding of areas like Brighton to be an LGBTQ+ hub has caused an
increase in economic growth
● The emergence of the “pink pound” has helped businesses as LGBTQ+
groups try to support each other e.g. Wildfang
- Role Performed
● People will have a variety of different roles within their life, you may be a
daughter but also a student, friend, employee all at once
● Our role influences how we behave and how others treat us, e.g a teacher is
treated with more respect and formality at school than they might be at home
● Role influences the fear and anxiety we associate with a place
● The rise of gated communities has increased a sense of exclusion and
division between those in and those out
- For example, in a shopping centre, these could be influenced as follows:
● Gender ~ men may feel in a predominantly female environment and so less at
ease or comfortable, if you don’t fit gender norms you may also feel out of
place with advertising often shown on stereotypes
● Religion ~ some of the clothes that people wear or are promoted may conflict
with personal religious beliefs and make you feel like an outsider (particularly
beliefs about modesty), greed could be associated with shopping which is
against many religions beliefs
● Age ~ those who are younger may view shopping as an exciting trip whereas
those who are older may view is more as a chore
● Sexuality ~ some brands are affiliated with LGBT+ charities or causes which
may make people feel a positive connection to them, alternatively the brands
could have negative connotations, people may also be worried about being
seen with a partner in public
● Role Performed ~ whether you work in the shop or are a customer has an
impact on how you see the place, a parent of a child may find it a stressful
experience, socio-economic background could influence how you view the
shops and your ability to access them
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Formal and Informal Representations of Place
- Representation refers to any method of communication by which people tell others
about the places and people
- Signs can be used in place of text to convey a meaning which is understandable (e.g.
road signs)
- Formal representation of place uses specific data to represent a place e.g. The
Census or Index of Multiple Deprivation
- The Census is the largest formal representation of place carried out in the UK
- It occurs once every 10 years and is compulsory for every household in the UK
- The data is publicly available so companies use it to understand consumers and
target their products better
- The next census will be carried out on March 21st 2021
- It has happened every 10 years since 1801 apart from 1941 due to the war
- Voluntary services use the data to support applications for funding as it reveals
information about the areas they work in such as household income and
unemployment
- Household data is then grouped together for smaller areas and combined as area
size increases
- Digitised boundaries have unique codes which allow Census data to be viewed in a
map
- However, as the data is taken on one day alone, it can become out of date very
quickly
- There are many fluctuations within 10 years that is also does not record
- Boundaries can also change over time which can make it very difficult to compare the
data across many Census readings
- Geospatial data is information that identifies location and characteristics of natural
features and boundaries on the Earth
- 10% of UK businesses depend on geospatial data
- 90% of data collected in the last 10 years in geographically located
- The geospatial industry is worth $270bn globally
- Abstract representation of place shows a rough relationship between places, but not
the real geographical location of them
- For example, the London Tube Map is shown in a much more logical way in the map
than it actually falls in so that it is readable and aesthetically pleasing
- Includes the Thames as a geographical marker but the distances are not to scale
remotely
- Other examples of abstract representation include Thematic Maps or the World Map
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