1. Regional Analysis
Chapter 1, section 3

2. Regions
Regions are the equivalent of scientific classification for geographers
Regions are determined through the cultural landscape
Three types of regions:
Formal
Functional (nodal)
Perceptual
Regional studies: each region has its own distinctive landscape that results from a unique combination of social relationships and physical processes.
important to the principle: people are the most important agents of change of Earth’s surface

3. Formal Regions
Formal regions help explain broad global or national patterns such as variations in religions and levels of economic development.
Also a uniform or homogenous region.
Shares one or more distinctive characteristics
Could be cultural, economic, environmental
Example: Montana
Has recognized boundaries and shares a common set of laws

4. Functional Regions
nodal region, it is organized around a node or focal point.
Used to display information about economic areas
Example: circulation of a newspaper

5. Formal and Functional Regions
The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions.

6. Perceptual region
vernacular region, is a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.
Example: the “south”
How do you know you are in the south?
-driving from New York down I-95
-waffle house?
-grits?
-sweet tea?

7. Vernacular Regions
A number of factors are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.

8. Regionalization Regionalism Sectionalism Irredentism
Used to describe situations in which different religious or ethnic groups with distinctive identities co- exist within the same state boundaries, often concentrated within a particular region and sharing strong feelings of collective identity.
Often ethnic groups who aims for autonomy from a national state
Ex. Serbs in Croatia
Sectionalism
Feelings that develop into an extreme devotion to regional interests and customs
Irredentism
Assertion by the government of a country that a minority living outside its formal border belongs to it historically and culturally.
Often leads to war
Ex. Serbs in Croatia

9. Landscapes Ordinary Landscapes Symbolic Landscapes
Vernacular landscapes
Everyday landscapes that people create in the course of their lives together
Symbolic Landscapes
Represent particular values or aspirations that builders and financiers want to impart to a larger public
Ex. Washington, D.C.
Some landscapes become powerful sense of national identity
Ex. West Irelend
Landscapes reflect people’s dreams and ideas as well as their material lives
Messages embedded in the landscape can be read as signs about values, beliefs, and practices
One task of geographers is to interpret the meaning of landscapes

10. Sense of Place
Refers to the feelings evoked among people as a result of the experiences and memories they associate with a place and to the symbolism they attach to that place.
Can also refer to the character of a place as seen by outsiders
For insiders:
Sense of place develops through shared dress codes, speech patterns, and public comportment.
lifeworld
Intersubjectivity
Shared meanings that are derived from everyday practice
For outsiders:
A sense of place can be evoked only if local landmarks, ways of life, etc. are distinctive enough to evoke a significant common meaning for people who have no direct experience of them

11. Geographical Imagination
Allows us to understand changing patterns, processes, and relationships among people, places, and regions
Examples:
Industrial Revolution
Introduction of the Railroad

12. Future Geographies Places and regions are in constant state of change
Today, because of a globalized economy and globalized telecommunications and transportation networks, places have become more interdependent