location analysis and place theory
TRANSCRIPT
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SPACE, LOCATION, PLACE and DEVELOPMENT
Three words often used in geography are space, location and place. Their
attributes comprise not only the more easily visible features due either to
natural processes or human construction, but also non visible valuation due
to social signification.
In general, space refers to the extent or area and the varying attributes of
that space, usually expressed in terms of the earths surface. Location, like
the word space, is abstract in meaning. It is defined as a particular position
within space, usually a position on the earths surface.
Place, also means a particular position on the earths surface. But in contrast
to location, it is not used in an abstract sense but confined to an identifiable
location on which we load certain values. So a location becomes a space
once it is identified with a certain content of information.
All three concepts are interlinked and remain just that, concepts, unless they
are put to some meaningful use, such as development. If development is the
process of finding resources and using such to fuel change then all three
concepts are invariably linked. The cumulative effect is determined,
however, by locating and the location of the resource, determining the
extent to which space is available for such source to be exploited and the
effect of utilization on the nearby places.
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Planning and Development
Davidoff and Reiner1 define planning as a process for determining
appropriate future action through a sequence of choices. Planning is
therefore concerned with the scientific methods, qualitative and quantitative
analysis and procedures that guide administrators in the development of
policies in an attempt to address the multidimensional changes that define
society; settlement and people - in a place at a particular time, held together
by common behaviours and values.
In this way, conscious effort is made to increase the validity of policies in
terms of the present and anticipated future of the environment (Faludi
1994, p. 1). This essentially is the genesis of what becomes development at
national and regional levels of planning.
Development is therefore concerned with identifying and sourcing resources
and energies to sustain the multidimensional changes and simultaneously
satisfy the demands that are displayed and expressed in the change system
(Bailey, 2010). At a regional level, development planning places significant
importance on the economic welfare of the people. Usually it is undertaken
by the government or some regional authority which has outlined the social
objectives that order the activities of the space in an attempt to elucidate
and improve the welfare of people in areas where there is a concern about
present and future living conditions.
Attention now turns to the form of spatial development planning at the
regional level. One occurs when a government or regional authority attempts
1 Davidoff, P and Reiner, T. A Choice Theory of Planning.
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(on the basis of realistic expectations and reliable data) to forecast the likely
trajectory of development within the region over a specified period.
The key objective of spatial development is to allow a reasonable amount of
decentralisation, through planning and management of settlement within an
articulated regional settlement network.
The concerns of spatial development are mainly economic and include
disparity in growth sectors, the likely location of development within the
region, and the ultimate effect on the choice of place on where persons
reside. In general, the government usually attempt to promote a spatial
structure which is in keeping with the locational characteristics of the
activities that are at presently developing, or could be expected to develop
within the region.
Spatial Development at Regional Level
National development plans when undertaken have no explicit spatial
dimension. These usually take the form of investment priorities. They tend to
consider a situation based on where the government wishes to pursue a set
of expenditures over a period. National Spatial Development Plans usually
take a top-down approach as decisions about future expansion are typically
drawn up and issued as guidelines for planning authorities at lower levels of
the government.
However, a regional government might adopt a more active view of spatial
planning and development and will establish particular goals for the region
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as a whole. In this case planning and development would involve a number
of considerations which are more convenient to the space. For example, the
regional government may decide to assist those parts of the region with the
highest potential for development, this decision corresponding to the
efficiency objective.
Alternatively, the regional government might wish to develop the poorest
parts of the regions, with an emphasis on redistribution and equity, or it may
attempt to assist the various parts of the region on a proportionate basis,
with respect to population or employment, thus perpetuating the existing
spatial structure of the region. A further alternative is for the regional
government to attempt to improve regional economic performance by
modifying the spatial structure of the region, if this is thought to be an
impediment to development.
Regional management is required as the comprehensive
common projection of where dynamic spatial developmentcan be created regionally.The Ministry of the Environment and OxfordResearch 2003
The basic idea is that spatial development or the pattern of town growth is a
corollary of economic growth. Linstead, for example is one very minute
example of this. With the introduction of the Bauxite ad Mining Industry
organization ALCAN in the early 1980s, Linstead grew in population, with
mostly skilled workers and artisans. In addition, the number of schools in the
area grew significantly and clinics and hospitals were built to facilitate the
demands of the growing population. While there are various arguments
surrounding Linstead as a consequence of economic growth, what is
essential to note is that, development in Linstead was more reactive rather
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than proactive. In the case of Linstead, Bauxite was the resource, it provided
employment for a skilled population which had a trickling effect. This
essentially facilitated the change in this community.
Regional development plans are really management tools used supervise
growth. The aim is essentially to be premeditating growth and plan for the
change in demand. The objectives should describe a desired future spatial
development for the administrative regions cities and towns, rural districts
and small-town (peripheral) regions, for nature and the environment,
recreation; business, including tourism; employment; education and training;
and culture.
Location and Place as a PeopleEnvironment Interaction
Process
Location is concerned with spatial relationships and interrelationships. In
human - geography location is concerned with the differences that exist
socially because of the differences in geography.
Spatial or Locational analysis as it now more commonly called, studies the
locational variation of a series of variables that affect place and the reasons
people exist there. Such variations include interpreting the distribution of
population density or of rural poverty. Locational analyses ask what factors
control the patterns of distributions and how these patterns can be modified
to make distributions more efficient or more equitable. More importantly it
questions the differences in expectation of individuals, usually urban against
rural demands.
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The key concepts of Locational analysis are based on spatial organization as
well as the functional regionthe tributary area of a major node, whether a
port, a market town, or a city shopping centre2. It is the idea that people
require space for their activities and therefore have a location. It addresses
the relationship between the activities at the local level by government
agencies, the individual and the transportation. Locational analysis may be
viewed as a mathematically and numerically based study and explanation of
location and spatial distribution drawing upon the traditions of location
theory within economics (Haggett, 1965)
What makes the people of one area have different needs than those in a
different area? What determines their needs? If we were to compare St.
Elizabeth (rural) to St. James (urban) we would notice several differences.
According to the 2007 Agriculture Census (STATIN, preliminary data. 2010),
St. Elizabeth has one of the highest proportions of farmland in Jamaica. This
is due to geographic location. However, the population has used their
resource to provide an income. Food which is cultivated in the communities
of St. Elizabeth are sold to other parishes of Jamaica. The rate of
employment in extractive industries is significantly higher in St James as its
culture is more determined the demand on tourism.
A place can be partly or wholly created by enacting special types of behavior
at a particular piece of environment. Such behaviour becomes associated
with that place. Territorial relations with place are a special form of place
behaviour. People move into new environments, establish new places in
2 Human Geography as Locational analysis. Online Britannica Encyclopeadie. 2010
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such, create boundaries around their places and may be prepared to defend
them.
Place is made and takes on meaning through an interaction process
involving mutual accommodation between people and the environment.
Places and their cultural meanings are generated through one or a
combination of three types of peopleenvironment interactions. A place can
be created by altering the physical characteristics of a piece of environment.
Such physical features may be natural or human-made.
A social intelligibility of place originates and develops, and is then
maintained by groups of people having collective experiences at those parts
of the environment and reinforced through feedback from ongoing
experiences at such places. Social intelligibility also develops from social
interchanges with others who have had further experience or knowledge of
particular places. If places are in existence before one interacts with them, it
is because other people have made them, through their past processes of
environmental activity. Properties of place are transmitted socially and thus
may stay constant through generations and cultural periods.
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Humans have a special role in defining place. Bonds between individuals (or
social groups) and places constitute part of the personal identity of those
individuals (or the identity of the social group). Thus people can be seen to
be dependent upon the concept of place for their self-identity (and social-
identity) just as places are dependent upon people for their identity. This
illustrates the mutual interaction process of peopleenvironment relations
(Memmott, 1979).
Conclusion
The regional development plans must tie with the idea that regional planning
manages spatial planning in detail in each municipality. In the future the
state and the municipality will be responsible for ensuring optimum quality in
land-use planning. The regional spatial development plans will not be able to
manage in detail and will not have the role of deciding where various
functions will be located if the regional councils, the councillors and
employees do not abandon the old way of thinking, the regional spatial
development plans will fail and remain sparse documents.
Locational Analysis constitutes an ideal representation of reality. It shows
economic growth on National and particularly regional levels. Our place,
where we choose to reside or focus mainly is a result of our location.
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References
Barnes, T. The place of locational analysis: a selective and interpretivehistory
Memmot, P. and Long, S. 2008. Place Theory and Place Maintenance inIndigenous Australia. Urban Policy and Research, Vol 20