Changing places
What do we mean by place?
More than a dot on a map? House, street or city? attached to? holiday or
special significance?
Some places are special, others suffer placelessness e.g. an airport
terminal, ‘could be anywhere’. When global forces are greater influences
on a place than local factors. British high streets are increasingly criticised
for being clone towns.
Mount Snowdon: a special place
360k make the 3hr climb every year. The summit is a memorable event with
its spectacular landscape.
Tourist gaze
Organised by entrepreneurs and governments, consumed by the public.
Even ‘death sites’ like Ground Zero and Auschwitz are marketed + managed
by tourism professionals. They choose what visitors access, influencing
our experience. Such tourist sites have different perceptions for each
visitor. Religious beliefs, family history + education influence how a tourist
perceives a death site. Sometimes, differing perceptions can lead to
conflict.
9/11 Memorial, New York
Ground Zero can be perceived as sad or
beautiful.
Defining place
Location:
● Where a place is on a map, it’s latitude + longitude coordinates
Locale:
● Settings where everyday life activities take place e.g. an office
● Affect social interactions + forge values, attitudes and behaviours
● We behave in a particular way in these places, according to social rules
we understand
● Need not be tied to a location e.g. a group chat may be a locale that
structures interactions between people
Sense of place (place-meaning):
● Personal + emotional attachment to place, it’s meaning
The importance of place in human life and experience
, Attachment, Home and identity
‘There’s no place like Home’.
Parents form an important attachment. Understanding the environment
and our attachment to it expands with age. Our geographical horizons
expand in parallel with our physical ability to explore.
Our attachment to a place is influenced by our knowledge + understanding
of it - increases with age, as we learn more.
Attachment is influenced by the quality or intensity of experience or the
feeling of safety. The more attached. It becomes home.
Identity and place
Our sense of place can be so strong that it is a central part of our identity.
This can differ in scale e.g. region or continent - derive from family history,
upbringing + experience.
Sense of place (homeland) e.g. Britain
What do we mean by place?
More than a dot on a map? House, street or city? attached to? holiday or
special significance?
Some places are special, others suffer placelessness e.g. an airport
terminal, ‘could be anywhere’. When global forces are greater influences
on a place than local factors. British high streets are increasingly criticised
for being clone towns.
Mount Snowdon: a special place
360k make the 3hr climb every year. The summit is a memorable event with
its spectacular landscape.
Tourist gaze
Organised by entrepreneurs and governments, consumed by the public.
Even ‘death sites’ like Ground Zero and Auschwitz are marketed + managed
by tourism professionals. They choose what visitors access, influencing
our experience. Such tourist sites have different perceptions for each
visitor. Religious beliefs, family history + education influence how a tourist
perceives a death site. Sometimes, differing perceptions can lead to
conflict.
9/11 Memorial, New York
Ground Zero can be perceived as sad or
beautiful.
Defining place
Location:
● Where a place is on a map, it’s latitude + longitude coordinates
Locale:
● Settings where everyday life activities take place e.g. an office
● Affect social interactions + forge values, attitudes and behaviours
● We behave in a particular way in these places, according to social rules
we understand
● Need not be tied to a location e.g. a group chat may be a locale that
structures interactions between people
Sense of place (place-meaning):
● Personal + emotional attachment to place, it’s meaning
The importance of place in human life and experience
, Attachment, Home and identity
‘There’s no place like Home’.
Parents form an important attachment. Understanding the environment
and our attachment to it expands with age. Our geographical horizons
expand in parallel with our physical ability to explore.
Our attachment to a place is influenced by our knowledge + understanding
of it - increases with age, as we learn more.
Attachment is influenced by the quality or intensity of experience or the
feeling of safety. The more attached. It becomes home.
Identity and place
Our sense of place can be so strong that it is a central part of our identity.
This can differ in scale e.g. region or continent - derive from family history,
upbringing + experience.
Sense of place (homeland) e.g. Britain
