Changing Places
Nature and importance of place
Place = location (where it is on a map) + meaning (social construction so what ‘place’ means to people)
Sense of place: emotional attachment a person has to a place – it is subjective (different individuals can
have a different sense of place of the same place).
Things making a place what it is:
It’s location
Physical characteristics (landscapes, topography etc...)
Human characteristics (who lives there and what they’re like)
Flows in and out (money, ideas, resources etc...)
Sense of place
Importance:
People feel connections with a place
Connection forms and identity important for sense of belonging
Relates to an aspect of their life
Place can create INSIDERS and OUTSIDERS:
Insider: feels familiar, welcome and have a sense of belonging.
Outsider: feels unwelcome, excluded don’t have a sense of place.
Factors that influence whether insider or outsider: age, gender, sexuality
Can change due to personal factors (change in gender) or external (gentrification)
Categories of places:
Near: geographically close (people more likely to feel like insiders here) – subjective
Far: geographically far (GLOBALISATION makes them seem closer ‘shrinking world effect’)
Experienced: places where people have spent time in
Media places: where people have not been to but have created a sense of place through media exposure
(films, social media, art...)
a person’s sense of a media place can be very different to the lived experience of the same place.
Genius loci: the spirit of a place – suggests every place has a unique spirit or atmosphere
Q&A: What geographers mean by the concept of ‘place’? [4 marks]
Involved looking at places as more than locations [1] which includes looking at both human and physical
characteristics [1] and all the things that flow in and out (e.g. money and resources) [1] It also includes
people’s sense of place [1]
Factors contribution to the character of a place:
Endogenous: the internal factors which shape a place’s character. Can be physical/ human factors.
PHYSICAL:
1. Location – eg. on the coast or inland. Places can be characterised by the features that are present
because of their location – a coastal place characterised as a port
2. Topography – refers to shape of landscape (flat land affects land use due to farming)
3. Physical geography – refers to environmental features (altitude, aspect, soil)
Nature and importance of place
Place = location (where it is on a map) + meaning (social construction so what ‘place’ means to people)
Sense of place: emotional attachment a person has to a place – it is subjective (different individuals can
have a different sense of place of the same place).
Things making a place what it is:
It’s location
Physical characteristics (landscapes, topography etc...)
Human characteristics (who lives there and what they’re like)
Flows in and out (money, ideas, resources etc...)
Sense of place
Importance:
People feel connections with a place
Connection forms and identity important for sense of belonging
Relates to an aspect of their life
Place can create INSIDERS and OUTSIDERS:
Insider: feels familiar, welcome and have a sense of belonging.
Outsider: feels unwelcome, excluded don’t have a sense of place.
Factors that influence whether insider or outsider: age, gender, sexuality
Can change due to personal factors (change in gender) or external (gentrification)
Categories of places:
Near: geographically close (people more likely to feel like insiders here) – subjective
Far: geographically far (GLOBALISATION makes them seem closer ‘shrinking world effect’)
Experienced: places where people have spent time in
Media places: where people have not been to but have created a sense of place through media exposure
(films, social media, art...)
a person’s sense of a media place can be very different to the lived experience of the same place.
Genius loci: the spirit of a place – suggests every place has a unique spirit or atmosphere
Q&A: What geographers mean by the concept of ‘place’? [4 marks]
Involved looking at places as more than locations [1] which includes looking at both human and physical
characteristics [1] and all the things that flow in and out (e.g. money and resources) [1] It also includes
people’s sense of place [1]
Factors contribution to the character of a place:
Endogenous: the internal factors which shape a place’s character. Can be physical/ human factors.
PHYSICAL:
1. Location – eg. on the coast or inland. Places can be characterised by the features that are present
because of their location – a coastal place characterised as a port
2. Topography – refers to shape of landscape (flat land affects land use due to farming)
3. Physical geography – refers to environmental features (altitude, aspect, soil)
