Detailed Revision Notes for the Changing Places module of the A-Level AQA Geography course.
The notes include detailed case studies and necessary knowledge as well as structured arguments to possible essay questions.
The structure of the notes is as follows;
3.2.2.2 - Relationships, conne...
3.2.2.2 - Relationships, connections, meaning and representation
The ways in which the following factors; relationships and connections, meaning and
representation a ect continuity and change in the nature of our places and understanding
of place
Place
- The location is the physical point of where a place is
- A place is a location that has di erent meanings to various people
- Edward Relph is a key in uence on the modern understanding of place due to his book ‘place
and placelessnes’ 1976 which aimed to reimagine the static and dimensional aspects of place
that were once widely accepted
Locales
- Locations in a place that are associated with everyday activities e.g. school, sports venues or
theatres
- Locales structure social interactions and people are likely to show behavioural traits speci c to
the locale e.g. People will be quiet in libraries
Sense of place
- Di erent places have various emotional meanings and relationships with people
- They are subjective emotional attachments that can give the place meaning
- e.g. People will have a strong connection to the place they grew up in
e.g. Glastonbury
Location:
• Glastonbury is in the county of Somerset and is located 23 miles south of Bristol
• It is situated at a dry point on the low-lying land Somerset levels
Locale:
• Glastonbury has its own unique character
• It is home to a large number of visitor attractions including Glastonbury Abbey and
Glastonbury Tor
• It is described by the visit Britain website as ‘alive with history’ and ‘one of the most spiritual
sites un the country’ by the National Trust
Sense of place:
• Glastonbury is a place of spiritual importance for people interested in paganism, religious
connections or the King Arthur a liation
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, • For others it evokes emotions about the internationally famous music festival that takes place
at Worthy farm - the rst festival took place in 1970, was attended by 1,500 people and cost
£1 entry
Theoretical approaches to place:
1. A descriptive approach
The idea that the world is a set of places and each place can be studied and is distinct.
2. A social constructionist approach
Sees a place as a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time e.g.
Trafalgar square was built to commemorate a British naval victory in the 1800’s and using a social
constructionist approach could be understood as a place of empire and colonialism.
- Cultural geographer Jon Anderson argues that places can be de ned and given meaning by the
traces that exist within them (Material traces = physical additions to the environment -
buildings, statues etc, Non-material traces = events, performances, emotions)
3. A phenomenological approach
Not interested with the unique characteristics of a place or why it was constructed. Instead it is
interested in how an individual person experiences place recognising the importance between
place and person. Yi-Fu Tuan and Edward Relph have been particularly important here.
Tuan developed ‘topophilia’ to describe the a ective bond between people and place through
human perception and experiences. Relph argues that the degree of attachment, involvement and
concern that a person or group has for a speci c place is crucial to our overall understanding of
place.
The importance of place
People de ne themselves through sense of place by living in places and carrying out a range of
activities there.
Importance can be explored by looking at its impact on three aspects; identity, belonging and
well-being. The placemaking movement (deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social
interaction and improve the communities quality of life) has put great emphasis on these 3
aspects.
Identity
Place can be crucial to the construction of identity - e.g. In relation to our own homes and local
areas, reading local newspapers, playing sport for a local team or local events all foster a sense of
local place. Identity can be evident at a number of scales;
- Localism: An a ection for emotional ownership of a particular place. Localism rarely manifests
itself in a political sense but can be demonstrated in nimbyism which occurs when people are
reluctant to have their local area a ected by development.
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, - Regionalism: Consciousness and 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 sense of place.
• Growing identity of place can trigger demands for further devolution e.g. Cornwall wanting its
own self-rule as it is already successfully governed by a local party.
• Many people identify with place at a national level and this is strengthened by common
language, national anthem, ag and through cultural and sporting events. A resurgence of 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 and
mosques and synagogues are places where people from the same religious identity come
together to worship.
• The power of place in political protest —> In London, the Occupy! Movement campaigned
against social and economic inequality around the world and camped outside St Pauls
Cathedral
A global sense of place
- Economic and social geographer - Doreen Massey - wrote about a global sense of place where
she questioned the idea that places are static.
- She argued that places are dynamic, have multiple identities and don't have boundaries. She
argues that the character of place can only be seen and understood by linking that place to
places beyond - she concluded we need a local, national and 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 is seen through the increase in global brands such as Starbucks, Apple, Cocacola etc
- American novelist - James Kunstler - talked about ‘the geography of nowhere’ where processes
such as urban sprawl have led to community-less cities covering huge areas of countryside
with identical shopping malls, carparks and roads
- He argues that ‘every place is like no place in particular’ and that in the UK the term ‘clone
town’ has been used to describe settlements where the high street is dominated by chain
stores
- The term placelessnes is used to describe such places
- Some places are residing the power of globalisation as shown by the anti-costa campaign in
Totnes, Devon 2012, MNCs are therefore increasingly having to adapt to the local marketplace
known as glocalisation e.g. McDonalds franchise includes 36,000 restaurants in over 100
countries but the aim to increase pro ts has led the company adapting its brand and product ti
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