Chapter 1 basic concepts

Maps, Space, and Place Part 1a : Becoming a Human Geographer: Techniques and Methods Maps and Geography Geographic Information systems Part 1b : It’s Spatial! Geographic Concepts Space, Place, and Scale

Presentation of Knowledge There are two primary ways geographers present their knowledge: 1. Academic writing & journals Advantages: Written record There for other sciences to read Can be very thorough and cite literature reviews

Presentation of Knowledge 2. Maps Advantages: Easy to understand (or at least a well constructed map is) Can portray spatial data in a more palatable form than other methods Disadvantages: Can anyone think of any?

Definition of a Map … a graphic model of the spatial aspect of reality. (Kraak and Ormeling 1996)

How Geographers Use Maps? 1. Provide information on locations and relation between locations Where is the closest Wal-Mart to this building? What is (of interest) in Idaho? Where is the best place to build a new shopping center? What is the fast route between Boise and Sun Valley? The most scenic?

How Geographers Use Maps? Fastest route

How Geographers Use Maps? Scenic route

How Geographers Use Maps? 2. Identify/explain patterns Why is a road super curvy rather than straight? Is there a correlation between where crops are grown and climate? Is the distribution of crimes in a city random or is there a pattern? What counties in Idaho are hardest hit by swine flu? Which state?

How Geographers Use Maps? 3. Compare patterns Is there a similar pattern of car accidents at two junction? What helped at junction A that might as well work at junction B? How does a pattern change over time?

Map Types Cognitive (mental Maps) Cartographic maps (paper or digital) reference maps thematic maps

Map Types Map Types Mental Tangible Reference Thematic Quantitative Qualitative

Cognitive Maps Subjective images we have in our minds Personal, fragmented, incomplete, etc

Cognitive Maps While evidence not completely consistent, the general notion that females will perform better than males on many tasks that require the processing of verbal information (Maccoby and Jacklin 1974; Voyer, Voyer and Bryden 1995; Halpern 2000; Kimura 2000) Males appear to have a similar advantage requiring the processing of spatial information. Although females have advantage at object location memory (Voyer et al. 2007)

Cognitive Maps Hunter-gatherer theory used to explain the sex difference in spatial abilities (Silver and Eals 1992) Males Males had greater home range than females, resulting in experiences with larger geographic environments Natural selection allowed successful hunters to pass on their genetic traits (i.e. did not get lost and die!) Females Had child-care responsibilities and a more limited spatial range Learned how to recall food sources in relatively small and familiar local environments (McGivern et al., 1997;1998)

Cartographic Maps Reference maps: focus on geographic locations

Cartographic Maps by Tom Patterson

Cartographic Maps Boston Subway

Cartographic Maps Thematic maps: emphasize the spatial pattern of one or more geographic attributes What are some examples of thematic maps?

Components of Thematic Maps Two important elements: Geographic or base map Thematic overlay The base map is a reference map of sorts, but referencing is not the main point. Whereas a reference map tells you “where” and “what”, a thematic map also tells you “how”.

Two Types of Thematic Maps Qualitative maps : Depicts the distribution of nominal data (data which is classified without hierarchy). Examples include: types of precipitation (rain, snow, hail), vegetation, and land use types Quantitative maps: Have information that tells you the magnitude of different things – how large, wide, fast, high, etc. Examples include: number of crimes in an area, amount of precipitation

Qualitative Election Map (No Numbers)

Qualitative Land Use Map (Location) http://www.gda.state.mn.us/maps/LandUse/lu_henn.pdf

Quantitative Thematic Map http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/JOBSMAP09.html?mod=djemTEW

Maps & Propaganda Propaganda maps: Persuasive communications directed at a specific audience that are designed to influence the targeted audience's opinions, beliefs and emotions in such a way as to bring about specific, planned alterations in their behavior. Politicians began realizing the rhetorical power of maps and officially embraced there use Maps assumed to be “true” Government maps akin to the “gospel”

Maps & Propaganda Czechoslovakia’s aerial threat to the Nazi state.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) GIS is : A computer-based information system that enables the capture , storage , manipulation , retrieval , analysis and display of spatial data. What is spatial data? Objects or entities that are referenced by their location Latitude / longitude coordinates x / y coordinates Street address Zip Code

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) GIS is a package that consists of 4 basic components: Hardware Software Data User (you)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Visualization GIS as a tool to display spatial data as a map Database Management GIS as a tool to store and organize spatial data Spatial Analysis GIS as a tool to analyze and interpret spatial data

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Not easy to interpret :

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Easy to interpret :

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Query and restrictions

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Business – Site Location, Delivery Systems, Marketing Economic Development – Population Studies, Census and Demographic Studies Education – Research, Teaching Tool, Administration Public Safety Services – Fire & Police Environmental – Monitoring & Modeling Government – Local, State, Federal, Military Industry – Transportation, Communication, Mining, Pipelines, Healthcare Politics - Elections and Redistricting Public Health – Epidemiology Studies Urban Planning - Land Use, Historic studies, Environmental and Conservation Studies, Housing Studies

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Parking citations :

Space, Place, and Scale Part 1b : It’s Spatial! Geographic Concepts Space, Place, and Scale

Space & Place: What’s the Difference? These are the concepts that we learn at a very young age Yet we do not think about them in depth very often Benefit of being a geographer…It’s our job to think about these things?

Space “ Space is like sex…it’s there but we don’t talk about it” (Edward Hall) Taken for granted, because we live in it. Fish probably don’t spend their days thinking about what water is… a geographer fish would! Space has area and volume Places have space between them Yi-Fu Tuan likens space to movement an place to pause – stops along the way. What begins as undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value. (Yi-Fu Tuan) Does space and place require each other for definition?

Place Place: somewhere emotionally and personally significant; a place of authenticity place is always socially constructed Theorizing what “place” is: “ Place is a humanized space” (Yi-Fu Tuan) to define space, one must be able to move from one place to another, but in order for a place to exist, it needs a space. (Yi-Fu Tuan) “ Place has to be one of the most multi-layered and multi-purposed words in our language” (Harvey, 1993) “ Place” is a generic term in everyday use in nearly every language, but what do we mean by it?

Place as Relational Place is central to many aspects of human thought and behavior It involves relational and comparative thinking: Examples: Geographies of difference Us versus Them, East and West Desire and dread Nightclub with friends versus dentist’s waiting room Fear and fascination Scary places versus those you feel comfortable with

Space vs. Place Space: a structure in which physical and intangible processes flow through; often an abstract concept representing the areas of movement between places Place: the central issue lies in a place’s difference relative to other places (i.e., relationship in a broader whole)

Space vs. Place Place is largely a locational concept: Toponym: is a name given to a place on Earth (i.e., Cesar Chavez – street name) Site: which is the physical characteristics of a place (i.e., climate, vegetation, elevation, latitude, etc.) Situation: (relative location): the location of a place relative to other places (i.e., this campus is next to the Idaho Center) Mathematical (absolute): The exact location of a place on the surface of the Earth (i.e., CWI: lat: 43.593643, long: -116.511684)

Space vs. Place Yi Fu Tuan (1999) Concept explaining people’s emotional ties to a place came up with this concept: Topophilia: Affection for a place Religious or Familial ties to a place Personal identity and/or a collective memory being tied to a place

Space vs. Place Topophilia can result in hostility toward: Change and/or renewal WHY? Sense that it destroys authenticity and the sense of place Can lose your position of power in the place

But what do we mean by “place”? Place can be a lot of things… Think about it, when we say place, what do we mean? A continent A country A region A city A neighborhood A friend’s house Your room

Spatial Scale Geographic scale is the dimension, or structure, in which we examine human places. Different social and physical processes operate at and across different scales affecting humans everywhere: What are some examples at the different scales? Global (macro) Regional National Community, county, city, etc. (micro) Can these processes interact across more than one scale?

Hierarchy of Scales A hierarchy of scales (from the body to the world) to help us categorize and organize “places” and the processes among them. The smallest scale is the Individual. The largest scale is Global. Between these lie a myriad of other scales

Hierarchy of Scales Global Scale State Scale Intra-state Scale Local Scale

Regions and Spatial Diffusion Environmental Determinism Possibilism Regions and Spatial Diffusion

Cultural Ecology Ecology: The study of the interaction between living things and their environment. Human ecology: Is more specific, being the study of the relationships and interactions between humans, their biology, their cultures, and their physical environments. Generally included in anthropology (the study of human beings) Cultural ecology: The study of the processes by which a society adapts to its environment

Environmental Determinism Environmental determinism: Physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture. Those who believe this say that humans are strictly defined by environment-behavior and cannot deviate. Physical geography, particularly climate, influenced the psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn defined the behavior and culture of the society that those individuals formed Tropical climates cause laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity Middle latitudes (frequent variability in weather) led to more determined and driven work ethics

Environmental Determinism Environmental determinism: For example, it was said, areas in the tropics were less developed than higher latitudes because the continuously warm weather there made it easier to survive and thus, people living there did not work as hard to ensure their survival. An attractive theory to its simplicity, but there are obvious problem with the approach Theory could not account for the well-developed, organized societies in the tropics such as: Mayas, Aztec, and Inca temples. Environmental determinism gave way to environmental possibilism to explain cultural development.

Environmental Possibilism Environmental possibilism: Suggested that the environment sets limitations for cultural development but it does not completely define culture. Culture is instead defined by the opportunities and decisions that humans make in response to dealing with such limitations.

Diffusion Diffusion: Places can affect other places through a process called spatial diffusion. It is the spread of some phenomenon over space and through time from a limited number of origins (hearth). What are some examples? Phenomena take the form of ideas, innovations, products, new technologies, culture traits, and contagious diseases. Two types of diffusion: Relocation Expansion

Diffusion Relocation diffusion: The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another. What are some examples? Phenomena takes the form of ideas, innovations, products, new technologies, culture traits, and contagious diseases. Relocation diffusion case study: The diffusion of AIDS in the United States

Relocation diffusion case study: AIDS Origins of HIV have been traced to Africa Two strains: HIV-1 originating in East-Central Africa and HIV-2 in West Africa. Earliest documented HIV-1 infection is a man in Kinshasha, Congo, in 1959 In Africa, HIV-1 & HIV-2 could have remained an isolated rural event had it not been for rural-to-urban migration and trade routes. What type diffusion processes has AIDS spread through? Contagious and relocation

Relocation diffusion case study: AIDS Haiti appears to have the oldest HIV/AIDS epidemic outside Sub-Sahara Africa. Probably brought to Haiti around 1966 from returning workers from Congo Theories on how HIV diffused to the United States: Theory 1. Previous research done by the CDC suggested that AIDS in the US spread from one man in California, who was dubbed Patient O (mistakenly identified in the press as ‘Patient Zero’.) Patient O was a flight attendant who vacationed in Haiti in 1981. Had multiple partners and spread disease to others and worldwide. Theory was disproved

Relocation diffusion case study: AIDS Theory 2. Worobey (professor of ecology and evolutionary biology) took archived blood samples of 5 early HIV patients who were from Haiti and had recently migrated to the United States. Through statistical analysis concluded with high degree Haiti was the bridge in spreading HIV from Africa to the United States around 1969. The probability HIV went from Africa to US (0.003) The probability HIV went was Africa to Haiti then US (99.8 percent) Spread in the homosexual population, also spread slowly in heterosexual population, before entering high-risk homosexual subpopulation, where it spread explosively enough to be finally noticed…~ 12 years (1981) http://www.pnas.org/content/104/47/18566.full

Expansion Diffusion Expansion diffusion The spread of an idea from one person to another while remaining with the first person. Relocation diffusion is often followed by expansion diffusion The adoption of a phenomena generally follows an S-shaped curve:

Expansion Diffusion Cell phone example: Initially, only a small number of purchases were made because few people knew about product, and few distributors offered it for sale Later, number of adopters grew exponentially as early buyers spread word through a large, susceptible population (people who could afford it) Middle phase, majority of people who will eventually adopt do so Ultimately, the rate of adoption will taper off as the remaining number of susceptible people shrinks and novelty and excitement of cell phones wear off. Level of adoption never quite reaches 100 percent. Why?

Expansion Diffusion Expansion diffusion How is it that some people adopt an innovation, purchase a hot new product, or catch a disease earlier than others? Where you live has something to do with when the diffusing phenomenon reaches you. Expansion diffusion may result from one of three processes: Hierarchical diffusion Contagious diffusion Stimulus diffusion

Hierarchical Diffusion Hierarchical diffusion Can occur under two methods: 1. The spread of an idea from persons of authority or power to other persons. Examples? Pope, President, socially elite people 2. Occurs when phenomena spread first to a major city, then to intermediate-sized places, and later to small towns and rural areas. New clothing and music fads spread quickly among major world cities (New York, LA, London, etc.) Only later do they filter down the urban hierarchy , down from large cities to small places. Why….?

Hierarchical Diffusion Hierarchical diffusion Why, for several reasons: Larger places have greater potential for interaction. Far more travel and contact occur between large cities than between small cities. People in large cities tend to be more diverse, wealthier, and more accustomed to change. Industries in larger cities tend to be more diverse and more able and willing to adopt new technologies and practices.

Contagious Diffusion Contagious diffusion: A rapid, widespread diffusion of a phenomena throughout the population. Places near the origin are usually affected first. Examples? Pebble tossed in a pond…sends out ripples Strongly influenced by distance, why? More likely to come in contact with nearby persons than with distant persons. You are at the front of a bus standing next to person with a cold, so you are more likely to catch that cold than the person at the back of the bus.

Diffusion Example What type of diffusion did Wal-Mart undergo? Contagious and reverse hierarchical (started in small town of Rogers, Arkansas and originally chose smaller towns and cities to locate)

Diffusion Example Diffusion of Wal-Mart map. http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

Stimulus Diffusion Stimulus diffusion: The spread of an underlying principal, even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse.

Stimulus Diffusion McDonald’s spread to India; however, Indian Hindus do not eat beef. Indian McDonald’s serve veggie burgers, which is culturally acceptable. The idea (McDonald’s burgers) was acceptable, but not in its original form – hence stimulus diffusion.

Barriers to Diffusion Barriers to diffusion: Diffusion is influenced by barriers to diffusion. What are some examples? Physical in nature : rivers, oceans, lakes, mountains Cultural in nature : language, political, economic

REGION A region derives its unified character through the cultural landscape Regions result from a unique combination of human and environmental characteristics (language, religion, agriculture, economics, climate, etc…) Regions will display similarities that differ from other regions What are the characteristics of our region?

REGION Geographers identify three type of regions: formal , functional , and vernacular . Formal Region (uniform or homogenous)- where the majority shares at least one distinctive characteristic. (language, religion, etc.)

FORMAL REGION BOUNDARIES Formal culture regions must have boundaries Rarely sharp because cultures overlap and mix Have boarder zones Culture regions reveal a core where all defining traits are present Farther from core regional characteristics weaken and disappear Formal regions display core/periphery pattern

REGION Functional Region (nodal region): an area organized around a node or focal point. The characteristic dominates at the center of the node and diminishes in importance moving outward Examples: city transit center market area of a local newspaper shopping center

REGION Vernacular region (perceptual region): a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. - These regions emerge from people’s informal beliefs. In the 80s, “the valley” became synonymous with the San Fernando Valley a: suburban landscape white, teenage girl called a “valley girl”, like oh my gosh

REGION How do vernacular culture regions differ from formal and functional regions Often lack the organization necessary for functional regions Unlike formal regions, they frequently do not display cultural homogeneity Many are rooted in the popular or folk culture

REGION Mental Map (perceptual region): depicts what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where it is located.

SPACE: Distribution of Features Distribution is arranged in one of three ways: density, concentration or pattern . Density: frequency with which something occurs Concentration: extent of a features spread over space. (clustered vs dispersed) Pattern: geometric arrangement of objects.

Pattern What is the pattern? Largest metropolitan areas

Chapter 1 basic concepts

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