Changing Places. Welcome to the Step up Day. Introduce myself, we do human geography here at the School of City & Regional Planning, Ill tell you alittle bit more later in the day about how it fits into planning. But for now I want to start with a question.

Changing Places What does this mean? 51°29′07″N 3°11′12″W http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=ST1761276979 What does this mean? Grid coordinates. So far so obviously geographical. And where is it? Any guesses? Yes, here, Cardiff. As we go in and out from these grid coordinates, this location, we can see the place of Cardiff at a range of scales, see a range of geographical features, landmarks, routes, homes etc etc And geography is about these features, but also its about what its like to live in these places, its about the relations between people and places.

Place Geography at university Not only the study of places But also the study of place – the relations between people and place “behind our everyday ‘being-in-the-world’ (what we do, what we experience, how we physically interact with the world and its people) are extraordinary sets of relationships between people and places which have become the foci for much contemporary geographical inquiry” (Holloway & Hubbard, 2000, p6) And this is perhaps how we think about geography – the study of places. And youre right, it is. Key facts and figures about the nature of places for christmas games of Trivial Pursuit. But at uni level the study of geography is something abit more than this – it’s the study of ‘place’ itself : what are our ideas of place, how we think about it, feel about, and act in the places around us? The distinction between studying places and the study of place is something that geographer Tim Cresswell identifies: ‘potential geographers often arrive at university professing an interest in places but not about place. [Yet] place is one of the two or three most important ideas in geography’ (2008) The purpose of the day today is to begin thinking about ‘place’ from a university perspective, to give you an idea of how you may be studying geography in a few short terms time.

What is your favourite place (in your town or elsewhere)? What are the important landmarks in your town (that you might use to advertise your area for tourism, for example)? What are the important landmarks to you in your everyday life (are these different)? What is your favourite place (in your town or elsewhere)? What makes it special? How does it make you feel? So how might we consider important aspects of ‘place’: IMPORTANT LANDMARKS IN YOUR PLACE (ie when you think of place X, what buildings or parks or whatever do you think of?) Do you often go there? Use it? IMPORTANT LANDMARKS TO YOU (might these be different, ie youth clubs, pubs, sports fields etc. i.e. everyday places, perhaps more mundane, but in a way more important. So, different places are important for different people). What is your favourite area of your town? Why? What makes it special? What happens there that makes it your favourite place? Where do you feel at home, as if you belong? Are there any local events that happen here? Geographers look at what our favourite places are, how they are created, how we form our attachments to them – through practices, through culture, through anthems etc... How do we form a sense of ourselves as Welsh for example, when this ‘place’ is very different from our school when we know everyone there.

How is your town changing? What developments have happened in recent years? What problems does your town have? What opportunities are there to improve your town? HOW IS YOUR PLACE CHANGING? Cardiff for example: new shops, new houses, Problems: congestion? Pollution? Enough amenities for all groups within society? Who benefits? What opportunities? New museum? History? Language? New media centre? Torchwood etc...

Discussion What does your town mean to you? 1. Name four good things about your town For tourists, for you, what are your favourite places? 2. Name four bad things about your town Social, environmental, economic, amenity problems? 3. Name four changes that have happened in your town Social, environmental, economic changes (etc) 4. Name four new developments you’d like to make. If you could make any change to your town, what would it be? Group discussion, then voting on best in each category for plenary feedback Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats...

If you were going to invent youre own version of monopoly for your town, what would the most important places to you be?