1. Developing a Spatial Perspective
The “Why of Where” - an Introduction to
Human Geography
Developing a Spatial Perspective
“…historians look at the world
temporally or chronologically;
economists and political scientists
look at it structurally, but we
geographers look at it spatially.”
-Harm de Blji, Why Geography
Matters More Than Ever, 2012

2. Why do you think that there is often such chaos and congestion at self-serve gas stations?

3. Describe

4. Where is this store located?
What does it tell you about this neigborhood?

5. The Spatial Perspective
Focuses on where something occurs
Key geographic questions:
Where is it?
Why is it there?
Examines how human activities are organized in space and how they relate to the natural environment

6. Developing a Spatial Perspective

7. “Association Among Phenomena in Places….”
Or…why things are where they are, and how they relate to other things…
Discussion (Spatial Perspective)
Why do you think most pizza places have Chinese take-out places in the same area?
Why are certain shopping malls located on bus routes, while others are not?
Living in New Jersey, why won’t we see many presidential campaign ads?
Why were many Chinese baby girls adopted by American (and typically white) families?

8. Spatial perspective Whole Foods in New Jersey
Starbucks vs. Dunkin in NJ

9. Yali’s Question What’s the answer?
How can it be answered from a spatial perspective?

10. Basic Geographic Terms

11. Two Types of Geography Physical Geography:
Where and why natural forces occur as they do
climates, landforms, types of vegetation, etc.
Focus on environmental dynamics
Human Geography:
Where and why human activities are located where they are
religions, cities, businesses, governments, etc.
Focus on social dynamics

12. Space The physical gap or interval between two objects
Spatial distribution
How people, things, and activities are laid out, organized, and arranged on earth

13. Do Now Our density has been reduced from 29 to 26 (as of today).
What effect does that have on our dispersion/concentration?

14. 3 Main Properties of Spatial Distribution
Density
How often something occurs in a given space
Dispersion / concentration
How spread out something is
Concentrated/clustered = close together
Dispersed/scattered = spread out
Pattern
Design

15. Density-In A we see 6 houses on 1 acre of land
Density-In A we see 6 houses on 1 acre of land. And in B we see 12 houses per acre
Concentration-in A we see the houses dispersed and in B we see them clustered.
Pattern-in A the houses are in a single linear arrangement, in B the arrangement is irregular.
Density-In A we see 6 houses on 1 acre of land. And in B we see 12 houses per acre
Concentration-in A we see the houses dispersed and in B we see them clustered.
Pattern-in A the houses are in a single linear arrangement, in B the arrangement is irregular.

16. Types of Pattern:
(a) Linear Patterns typically depict houses along a street or towns along a railroad
(b) Centralized Patterns typically involve items concentrated around a single node. Ex: Center City with surrounding suburbs
(c) Random Pattern An unstructured, irregular distribution

17. The changing distribution of North American baseball teams illustrates the difference between density and concentration.

18. The Five Themes of Geography

19. THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
Location
Place
Human-Environment Interaction
Movement
Regions

20. LOCATION Where is it? Absolute Location Relative Location
A latitude and longitude (global location) or a street address (local location).
Paris France is 48o North Latitude and 2o East Longitude.
The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Relative Location
Described by landmarks, time, direction or distance. From one place to another.
Go 1 mile west on main street and turn left for 1 block.
You are Here

21. PLACE What is it like there?
Human Characteristics
What are the main languages, customs, and beliefs.
How many people live, work, and visit a place.
Physical Characteristics
Landforms (mountains, rivers, etc.), climate, vegetation, wildlife, soil, etc.

22. What’s the difference between place and space?
A place is a point
A space is an area
Usually demarcated in some way

23. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
How do humans and the environment affect each other?
We depend on it
People depend on the Tennessee River for water and transportation
We modify it
People modify our environment by
heating and cooling buildings for comfort
We adapt to it
We adapt to the environment by wearing
clothing suitable for summer (shorts) and
winter (coats), rain and shine

24. MOVEMENT How are people, goods, ideas moved from place to place?
Human Movement
Trucks, Trains, Planes
Information Movement
Phones, computer ( ), mail
Idea Movement
How do fads move from place to place?
TV, Radio, Magazines

25. MOVEMENT Spatial interaction = interconnectedness of places
Depends on:
Distance
Accessibility
Connectivity

27. REGIONS What do locations have in common?
A way of subdividing space into categorizable geographic units
3 types of regions: formal, functional, perceptual

28. Remembering the 5 themes
If you can’t remembering what they are just ask MR. HELP!
M – Movement
R – Regions
HE – Human Environment interaction
L – Location
P - Place

30. Landscape
How physical, human, and symbolic elements come together in a place
Theme of place
Human activity changes natural landscapes into cultural landscapes
Theme of human-environment interaction
Can provide visual cultural history
Reflect identity

31. Philippine Rice Terraces