In this assignment, the focus is on the notion of PLACE: how we constitute or construct place; how we think about place; and how we imagine ourselves in place. In his seminal work, Place and Politics ?

GEOG 2300: Assignment #1 Constituting Place! 08-05-2014

Due: 20 May 2013

Worth: 15%

Length: 3-5 pages (dbl. spaced)

Please note that this is a compulsory assignment!

In this assignment, the focus is on the notion of PLACE: how we constitute or construct place; how we think about place; and how we imagine ourselves in place. In his seminal work, Place and Politics (1987) John Agnew suggested that in order for a SPACE to be considered a PLACE, three requirements must be fulfilled:

· A Specific LOCATION - “the geographical area encompassing the settings for social interaction as defined by social and economic processes operating at a wider scale.” In other words, LOCATION with reference to the external factors that affect the people living in a particular place. These factors may include: possibilities for work and education; local systems of material production; distribution networks; etc. LOCATION provides an answer to the question “Where”!

· A LOCALE – the setting “in which social relations are constituted (these can be informal or institutional)” – i.e. the shaping of space – e.g. walls in a room; parks and streets in a city; etc.

· A SENSE OF PLACE - “the local ‘structure of feeling’”; i.e. the personal and emotional attachments we have to a particular space – or, rather, place!​​​​​​​​​

Using Agnew’s concepts, I would like you to analyze and describe a place with which you are familiar (e.g. bar, pub, coffee-shop, laundromat, store, mall, church, mosque, synagogue, hair salon, etc.). [NOTE: in your answers, please make clear which of Agnew’s points you are discussing]:

1) Describe its broader geographical settings – its LOCATION. What are the key elements that define its location?

e.g. Where is it located? In what sort of economic or social environment is it located? What might it say about the type of people who frequent such a place? Who might be included or excluded?

2) Describe its physical setting – the LOCALE – what are the key elements that constitute (i.e. make up) this place?

Ask yourself what elements help to constitute the place both physically and sensually (e.g. smells, sights, sounds, etc.)? Make note of how people interact with each other in that place; how they interact with the place itself; how they move through it; and how they move in and out of it. Make note of how many people are in the place and where they situate themselves. Who uses that space? For what purposes is the space used? What are the possible focal points? How is it bounded or set apart from other places or other spaces?

3) Describe the essence of the place – its SENSE OF PLACE.

What are the intangible characteristics of the place that make it important to you, which make it popular, and which give it a ‘sense of place’?

4) Describe how all of these features have played a role in what may be described as your ‘geographical imagination.’

The latter may be defined as “a sensitivity towards the significance of PLACE, SPACE and LANDSCAPE in the constitution and conduct of social life”(Gregory 1994). David Harvey (1973) suggested that a geographical imagination

… enables ... individual[s] to recognize the role of space and place in [their] biograph[ies], to relate to the spaces [they] see around [them], and to recognize how transactions between individuals and between organizations are affected by the space that separates them ... to judge the relevance of events in other places ... to fashion and use space creatively, and to appreciate the meaning of the spatial forms created by others.

In a sense, we all carry with us a geographical imagination which we call upon in determining: how we navigate through our daily lives: how we see ourselves ‘in place’ or ‘out of place’; how we define our places of work, leisure, worship, study, etc.; how we interact with others in space; and how we imagine our sense of belonging or identity at a number of different scales; etc.

5) Finally, on the basis of your discussion of place, answer whether “place(s)” is/are important to you? Why or why not?