Yi-Fu Tuan

From Geography

Yi-Fu Tuan was born in 1930 in China. Growing up as a son of a diplomat, he used to move a lot on a young age. In the 1970s, he had a great influence on the ways of research in geography. Before that time, the human aspect of place and space was often ignored or marginalized. Tuan redefined human geography as the study of the human-environment relations (Hubbard, Kitchin, Valentine, 2004, pp 306). In 1971, he published the paper Geography, phenomenology and the study of human nature. He used a phenomenological approach to geographical subjects. The experiences and observations of people of their was used to unravel geographical topics (Cloke, Philo & Sadler, 1991, p. 75). One of his most famous works is Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perceptions, Attitudes, and Values, published in 1974. This publication deals with the way people perceive and shape their environment (Encyclopædia Britannica Online, n.d.).

References:

Cloke, P., Philo, C. & Sadler, D. (1991). Approaching human geography. The Guilford Press: London UK. Hubbard, Phil., Kitchin, Rob.,Valentine, Gill. (2004). Key Thinkers on Space and Place. Sage: London UK.

Geography: Influences of the social sciences. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. [1]

Published by Boudewijn Idema