Geography: Changing Places
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, Changing places
Evaluate the effectiveness of geospatial data in contributing to a sense
of place? (4 marks)
Geospatial data is any data that represents features or objects on the Earth's surface e.g.
topography, relief, physical features and landmarks. Geographical Information System (GIS)
is an example of software that utilities geospatial data to provide useful information to local
communities and governments. One way it can be used to contribute to a sense of place is by
providing meaningful information to an individual who is new to the area. This can be
services, community or recreational centres- allowing people to attribute a more personal
attachment to a place. Additionally, a sense of place can be enhanced by using GIS to plan
out strategic urban planning and developments. Governments and local councils can use GIS
in a run-down area possibly experiencing deindustrialisation and can implement new better
quality infrastructure which will change the original place’s identity to adapt to the new set of
positive ideas it now holds.
Explain how a place can be interpreted differently by different groups
of people (10 marks)
A sense of place is the subjective and emotional attachment to a place. It can be interpreted
very differently from an insider and outsider perspective, depending on their own personal
experience and interaction with the place. An insider is someone who knows a place very
well and is familiar with its topography and its daily rhythms and events, e.g. resident who
has lived in that place for their entire life. Alternatively, an outsider is someone who does not
know the place very well e.g. a visitor or someone who only has a view of that place from
media representations.
An example where different groups of people interpret a place differently is the socio
economic segregation in Kensington. The Grenfell Tower fire exposed the social inequality
that exists in this London borough where the rich and poor are only separated by a road or
two. The catastrophic event killed at least 40 people and around 20 people were critically
injured. The tower’s residents (insiders) are situated in one of the most deprived areas of
Kensington where there are low levels of income, childhood poverty, homelessness and a
65% health deprivation rating. The destruction of the tower brought despair and threatened
the security and safety of the residents. and Just a few streets away, (e.g. Knightsbridge
where there is a 0% health deprivation rating) there are luxurious apartments, significantly
higher levels of income and a higher quality of life. A resident from Grenfell could feel
socially excluded and an absence of belonging. With the lack of investment from the
government to try and tackle the worrying housing issue in Grenfell, an insider, like a family
of four, would feel dislocated. Perhaps even neglected or infuriated at why they aren’t given a
good quality of life that their mega-rich neighbours seem to have. Residents of Knightsbridge
(an outsider) may view the tower incident as unfortunate but inevitable because of the poor
conditions of the area. A resident who lives nearby told Channel 4 news “the people who died
and lost their homes this happened to them because they are poor”. This shows an outsider’s
perspective could be completely ignorant of the housing crisis and increasing levels of
poverty in Grenfell and instead may view Kensington as a prosperous place, striving with job
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