The Power of Place (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

The Power of Place (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: John A. Agnew
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317907396

Reflecting the revival of interest in a social theory that takes place and space seriously, this book focuses on geographical place in the practice of social science and history. There is significant interest among scholars from a range of disciplines in bringing together the geographical and sociological ‘imaginations’. The geographical imagination is a concrete and descriptive one, concerned with determining the nature of places, and classifying them and the links between them. The sociological imagination aspires to explanation of human activities in terms of abstract social processes. The chapters in this book focus on both the intellectual histories of the concept of place and on its empirical uses. They show that place is as important for understanding contemporary America as it is for 18th-century Sri Lanka. They also show how the concept can provide insight into ‘old’ problems such as the nature of social life in Renaissance Florence and Venice. The editors are leading exponents of the view of place as a concept that can ‘mediate’ the geographical and sociological imaginations.

The Power of Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

The Power of Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: Jennifer Wolch
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2014-01-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317819926

This book illuminates the profound influence of geography on everyday life. Concentrating on the realm of social reproduction – gender, family, education, culture and tradition, race, ethnicity the contributors provide both an articulation of a theory of territory and reproduction and concrete empirical analyses of the evolution of social practices in particular places. At the core of the book’s contribution is the concept of society as a ‘time-space’ fabric, upon which are engraved the processes of political, economic and socio-cultural life. A second distinctive feature of the book is its substantive focus on the relation between territory and social practice. Thirdly, it represents a significant step in the redefinition of the research agenda in human geography.

Remaking Human Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

Remaking Human Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: Audrey Kobayashi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2014-01-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317907035

This book highlights the increasingly important contribution of geographical theory to the understanding of social change, values, economic & political organization and ethical imperatives. As a cohesive collection of chapters from well-known geographers in Britain and North America, it reflects the aims of the contributors in striving to bridge the gap between the historical-materialist and humanist interpretations of human geography. The book deals with both the contemporary issues outlined above and the situation in which they emerge: industrial restructuring, planning, women’s issues, social and cultural practices and the landscape as context for social action.

Urban Memory in City Transitions

Urban Memory in City Transitions
Author: Ali Cheshmehzangi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2021-04-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9811610037

As a continuation of ‘Identity of Cities and City of Identities’, this book covers the arguments around the memory-experience-cognition nexus concerning palimpsests and urban places. As cities experience transitional phases of growth, development, decline, and decay, the author urges considering the notion of urban memory in place-making strategies and design decision-making processes. These explorations would add value to primary fields of architecture, architectural history, cognitive science, human geography, and urbanism. Divided into eight chapters, this book puts together a comprehensive knowledge of urban memory in city transitions. By studying urban memory, the author delves into conceptions of mental mapping, knowledge of environments, cognition of places, and the perceptual dimension of urbanism. Undoubtedly, urban memory plays a significant part in the future movements of humanistic urbanism. Given the significances of scale, pace, and mode of city transitions globally, we should remember who are the ultimate users of those living environments. Therefore, in this book, the author debates two contradictions of ‘memory of place vs. place of memory’, and ‘significance of place vs. place of significance’. Each of these is believed to be a paradox of its own, indicating places are significant through the systematic networks of cities, memories are meaningful through the neural information processing, and place memories are the essence of urban identities. The book's ultimate goal is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the space-time frame of place in making memorable places. Through the comprehensive explorations of many global examples, we can evaluate the significance of place in mind more carefully. This is narrated based on the recognition of nostalgia in cities, socio-temporal qualities in places, and the network of processes in our minds. In return, the aim is to provide new knowledge to make memorable cities, enhance social experiences, and capture and value the significance of place in mind.

Spatial Data Handling in Big Data Era

Spatial Data Handling in Big Data Era
Author: Chenghu Zhou
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2017-05-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9811044244

This proceedings volume introduces recent work on the storage, retrieval and visualization of spatial Big Data, data-intensive geospatial computing and related data quality issues. Further, it addresses traditional topics such as multi-scale spatial data representations, knowledge discovery, space-time modeling, and geological applications. Spatial analysis and data mining are increasingly facing the challenges of Big Data as more and more types of crowd sourcing spatial data are used in GIScience, such as movement trajectories, cellular phone calls, and social networks. In order to effectively manage these massive data collections, new methods and algorithms are called for. The book highlights state-of-the-art advances in the handling and application of spatial data, especially spatial Big Data, offering a cutting-edge reference guide for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the field of GIScience.

Humanistic Geography and Literature (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

Humanistic Geography and Literature (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: Douglas C. D. Pocock
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2014-01-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317906322

This book introduces the beginning student to the major concepts, materials and tools of the discipline of geography. While it presents geographic theory, as whole and for each of its parts, the chief emphasis is on concrete analysis and example rather than on abstraction, an approach which has proven more successful for undergraduate courses than those with a more heavily theoretical bias. The text was extensively re-written for the third edition, which enhanced its clarity and effectiveness, with expanded cartographic coverage.

The Geography of Crime (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

The Geography of Crime (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: David J. Evans
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317907302

This book presents original research into contemporary geographical aspects of the study of crime. The contributors, drawn from different disciplines within the social sciences and from various countries, give a review of the subject which provides a valuable insight into the geography of crime. Their approaches range from the behavioural to the environmental, and the crimes dealt with include violent crime and residential burglary. The book examines data sources, discusses different crimes and ways of studying them and considers the fear of crime. The criminal justice system in the UK is examined in detail, including policy, the operations of community and police committees and an account of the experience of crime prevention policies in Britain and North America is also given.

Ageing in Place in Urban Environments

Ageing in Place in Urban Environments
Author: Tine Buffel
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2023-07-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000932508

Ageing in Place in Urban Environments considers together two major trends influencing economic and social life: population ageing on the one side and urbanisation on the other. Both have been identified as dominant demographic trends of the twenty-first century. Cities are where the majority of people of all ages now live and where they will spend their old age. Nevertheless, cities are typically imagined and structured with a younger, working-age population in mind while older people are rarely incorporated into the mainstream of thinking and planning around urban environments. Cities can contribute to vulnerability arising from high levels of population turnover, environmental problems, gentrification, and reduced availability of affordable housing. However, they can also provide innovative forms of support and services essential to promoting the quality of life of older people. Policies in Europe have emphasised the role of the local environment in promoting “ageing in place”, a term used to describe the goal of helping people to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as they wish. However, while this has been the dominant approach, the places in which older people are ageing have often proved to be challenging environments. The book explores the forces behind these developments and how older people have responded. Drawing upon approaches from social gerontology, urban studies, geography, and sociology, this book will be essential reading for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners searching for innovative ways to improve the lives of older people living in urban environments.

The Future of Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

The Future of Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: Ron Johnston
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2014-01-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317907124

The chapters in this book address fundamental questions of the nature and purpose of geography, scrutinising its contents, philosophy and methodology. Aimed at undergraduates its purpose is to broaden the debate about what geography had become during the 1980s and what shape it might take in the future.

The Scope of Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)

The Scope of Geography (RLE Social & Cultural Geography)
Author: Rhoads Murphey
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2014-01-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 131790656X

This book introduces the beginning student to the major concepts, materials and tools of the discipline of geography. While it presents geographic theory, as whole and for each of its parts, the chief emphasis is on concrete analysis and example rather than on abstraction, an approach which has proven more successful for undergraduate courses than those with a more heavily theoretical bias. The text was extensively re-written for the third edition, which enhanced its clarity and effectiveness, with expanded cartographic coverage.