GNP - Importance of Space Lesson

The Importance of Space

The Importance of Space

  • Space refers to the area one place holds and the distribution of locations on Earth
    • The relationship of one place to another plays a large role in human interaction
    • All areas have a certain level of connectivity, based on their complementary relationship (what they can supply each other), their accessibility (how easy it is to access that location) and their transferability (cost of moving items/people from one place to another)
  • The spatial perspective requires that a person consider the surface of the Earth as a blank canvas and everything on it as having a specific location and relationships with other places
  • Spatial Analysis allows us to see the patterns and ask "why"?
  • Spatial interaction explains how regions communicate and relate to one another
    • Different patterns can be seen at different levels of scale
    • Local – Regional – Global Continuum

Regions

  • Regions are different places linked together by one or more similar characteristics
    • People can modify the Earth to reflect one or many of their own traits
  • Three types of region:
  • Formal (Uniform)
    • Similar characteristic(s) links all of the people in the area (or at least the vast majority of people)
      • Country rules
      • Climate
        • Rust Belt (NY through Indiana and Michigan)
      • Products
        • Cotton Belt (Virginia to Texas)
      • Religion
  • Functional Region (Nodal)
    • Defined around a node (or focal point) which is a central location
    • Characteristic dominates node, but becomes weaker as you move further from hearth (or place of origin)
      • Region is usually tied to node through transportation, communication, economy, functional associations (think about services)
  • Vernacular Region (Perceptual)
    • Defined by a person's ideas or feelings about a place

Regions of the World

  • When considering regions, it is important to start at a small scale (a global perspective)
    • Do not identify regions based solely upon their continent, be specific about the area
    • Examples include:
      • Anglo-America
      • Latin America
      • Meso-America
      • Western Europe
      • Eastern Europe
      • Southwest Asia
      • East Asia
      • South Asia
      • Southeast Asia
      • Oceania
      • North Africa
      • Sub-Saharan Africa

Place 

  • Place is distinguished by particular characteristics
    • Physical and cultural factors
    • Idiographic information (applies only to one group or region) vs. nomothetic information (universally applicable)
  • Creates "Sense of Place" – person's idea or feelings about a place based on real or imagined reasons

Location

  • Where a place is on the Earth
    • Relative – in reference to another location
    • Absolute – using longitude and latitude
  • Toponym – Name given to a place
  • Site is the internal physical and cultural characteristics of a place (the focus is often on physical features)
  • Situation is where something is located in relation to something familiar or important

Diffusion

  • Movement of any characteristic (general term is cultural diffusion)
    • Originates in a hearth (place of origin)
    • Sometimes groups invent things at the same time (independent invention)
  • Two main types of diffusion:
    • Relocation
    • Expansion (three sub-categories)
      • Hierarchal
      • Contagious
      • Stimulus

Relocation DiffusionMap of Human Migrations

  • Physical spread of culture through movement of people
  • Migration Diffusion – loss of innovation or group in the original location due to the movement of people

Expansion Diffusion

  • Spread of a characteristic quickly through various means
    • Hierarchical – spread a result of group with power (from a central node)
      • Usually social elite (from most to least important)
    • Contagious – Rapid spread through contact, usually geographically close locations
      • Usually widespread
      • Can be disease
    • Stimulus – spread of part or underlying principle of an idea

Density

  • map of population densityHow often an object occurs in a given area
    • Arithmetic Density (Population Density) – People per land
    • Physiological Density – People per arable land 
  • It is important to remember that density tells us "how many", but not where – that is the role of concentration and pattern

Movement

  • Tobler's First Law of Geography states that every place is related to everywhere else, but near things are more related than far things
  • Distance Decay (Time-Space Decay) – Interaction between two places decline as distance increases
    • The cause of this phenomenon is the Friction of Distance – degree to which distance interferes with an interaction
  • Time-Space Compression (Convergence) – increasing technology and innovations that bring distances "closer" together
    • Perceived reduction of size – not actual change
  • The perceived changes in distance are a measurement of relative distance or topological space. Not the actual distance, but rather the distance based on access or availability of transportation or money

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS (Human Migrations and Population Density Maps are available in the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)