Places
Places are locations with a set of physical and/or human features that make them unique from other locations. Because of their uniqueness, they typically have names that can be found on general reference maps. For example, Yellowstone National Park is a place that is distinguished by natural geysers; wolves and other wildlife; and a complex tourism infrastructure of lodging, restaurants, roads, and hiking trails. Manhattan is a place that is distinguished by dense, high-rise buildings; an economy focused on areas such as finance, law, and advertising; and landmarks such as Central Park and Times Square. Venice Beach in Los Angeles is a place with eccentric boardwalk venders and entertainers.
The unique combination of features within a place, when experienced by people, create what is known as a sense of place. Sense of place comes from an emotional reaction that forms as humans interact with places. Some places have a very strong sense of place, evoking either a positive or negative reaction in people. For many, a place such as Paris has a very strong, positive sense of place. History, architecture, street layout, cafés, pedestrian activity, and parks combine to create a unique sense of place that people are strongly attached to (figure 1.28). Because of this, demand for housing is strong and tourism is a flourishing industry there. In contrast, a neighborhood in a big city that is trash strewn, largely abandoned, and littered with remnants of drug use may have a strong negative sense of place that repels people.
Placelessness is the antithesis of sense of place. Some places lack uniqueness, offering homogenous landscapes that differ very little from other places. Many urban areas in North American cities consist of wide arterial streets lined by fast-food restaurants and gas stations. The architecture and design of these places remain basically the same, whether it is in Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, or Phoenix. Some argue that cookie-cutter suburban residential development is also placeless. By this argument, these developments consist of large swaths of homogenous suburban homes that lack design tied to local history or culture (figure 1.29).
Figure 1.28.Café in Paris. Paris is a city with a strong sense of place that comes from its unique combination of human and physical features. Photo by Stefano Ember. Stock photo ID: 237982663. Shutterstock.
When geographers talk about places, they typically focus on the wide range of characteristics that compose the place—the people, the built environment, the natural environment—and the ways in which these characteristics form either a strong sense of place or a bland placelessness.
People perceive and navigate through places, and develop a sense of place, through mental maps, which are the way humans organize places in their minds. Most people can draw a map of their city, country, or the world, but in all likelihood, there will be more detail and precision in areas that they move through on a regular basis or are exposed to through various media. You probably have a detailed mental map of your neighborhood, which includes the location of local businesses, parks, the location of homes of people you like to see (and those whom you do not), places that are pleasant to travel through, and places that are dangerous or unpleasant.
Mental maps influence how we move through our cities and neighborhoods, as people tend to follow familiar routes and avoid unfamiliar routes. People also move on the basis of perceived characteristics of areas in their mental maps, staying clear of areas seen as dangerous or staying in areas viewed as aesthetically pleasing.
Beyond our own neighborhoods and cities, we still form mental maps. Most Americans can draw a rough map of the United States as well as a partial map of the world with some countries and continents. Through the study of geography, our mental map becomes more detailed. Well-developed mental maps allow us to better understand our world and the events that take place in it. Knowing that Iraq’s neighbors include countries such as Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia makes it easier to understand the complex ethnic, religious, and political stresses tearing at that country: Islamic State fighters centered in Syria, ethnic Kurds that straddle Turkey and northern Iraq seeking autonomy, and sectarian rivals from Saudi Arabia and Iran that clash in Iraq.
Regions
Regions are locations with unifying characteristics that distinguish them from other locations. Unlike places, which are viewed in a more holistic way and are more often found on general reference maps (Paris, Yellowstone National Park, Manhattan, Venice Beach), regions are distinguished by a limited number of human and/or physical characteristics.
Figure 1.29.Placelessness. Homogenous landscapes with few distinguishing characteristics are often considered “placeless.” Such places appear virtually the same in any location, with no visible ties to local culture and history. World Imagery basemap by Esri; data sources: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community. Streetscape photo by Yuriy Stankevich. Royalty-free stock photo ID: 589563587. Shutterstock.
Regions are a useful way of categorizing the world for purposes of geographic research. Just as biologists categorize the living world into species and historians categorize time into eras, geographers categorize space into regions. By creating categories, biologists can compare wolves with dogs, historians can compare the Middle Ages with the Renaissance, and geographers can compare North America and Latin America.
There are three types of regions: formal, functional, and perceptual.
Formal regions can be identified by mapping one or more human or physical features. The Corn Belt in the United States can be identified by mapping acreage devoted to corn production, while Tornado Alley can be found by mapping tornado frequency (figure 1.30). The Bible Belt can be mapped by the number of people who state they attend church on a regular basis. A common cultural trait, such as language or religion, can be used to distinguish North America from Latin America.
Functional regions are delineated by a central place, or node, and a surrounding hinterland that interacts with the node. For example, regional shopping malls and other businesses collect customer address data that they map and use to determine their functional sales region, or market area. A functional metropolitan region can be identified by mapping commuting patterns of workers and consumers who travel to a city (figure 1.31). The advantage of mapping functional regions is that it avoids the use of artificial city or county or even state boundaries when determining the region surrounding a central place.
Perceptual regions, also called vernacular regions, are based on subjective criteria of individuals. Everyone knows that the South and Southern California exist in the United States, but where exactly are they? One way of identifying this type of region is by having people draw boundaries on a map. With a large enough sample, a consensus as to where the boundaries lie will become clear.
Figure 1.30.Formal regions: Tornado Alley. View the entire dataset of over 52,000 tornados from 1950 to 2008 at http://arcg.is/2lzJ4Rk. Map by author. Data source: National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center. Publication Date: 200906. Title: United States Tornado Touchdown Points 1950-2008. Publication Information: Publication Place: Reston, VA. Publisher: National Atlas of the United States.
Figure 1.31.Functional regions: Commuter megaregions of the US. This map shows commuter flows between census tracts based on the 2006–2010 US Census, American Community Survey. Map by Rae, Alasdair; [email protected] (2016): United States Commutes and Megaregions