Theory of place

From Geography

One of the people who wrote about the ‘theory of place’ was Allen Pred (1936-2007)[1]. He was at the forefront of Human Geography. He wrote an important book about ‘place’, namely ‘Place, Practice and Structure in 1986 (N.D., 2007). Pred wanted to reconstruct the historical becoming of places and regions as expressions of structuration processes. Therefore it is interesting to examine these regions through the analytical frame of the structurationist ‘theory of place’. The concepts place and region (important in the structurationist context) imply two social processes which they express.

- The appropriation of space

- Transformation of nature (Werlen, 2009).

‘The historical becoming of a ‘place’ or ‘region’ by means of appropriating ‘space’ in transforming ‘nature’ is, as Pred stresses, inseparably bound to the reproduction and transformation of society in space and time’ (Werlen, 2009, p. 53). Besides it shows the uniqueness of every place and region, so people appropriate this space again.

The theory of place comprises three main points:

- Institutional projects: This means that the institutional projects have an enormous influence on the patterns of daily life. Not just the routines of individuals but their life paths as well.

- Examining the formation of biographies as an expression of structuration processes within a place: A place and/or region plays a key role in the formation of biographies of individual. So again the influence on the life of the individual is very important.

- There is a meaning of place that is part of the growing consciousness of an individual: So the meaning of place needs to be treated as an object of regional research. This is because place is a mental issue and that could be relevant in regional processes. Even though there might be no real regional existence (Werlen, 2009).

What is interesting is that our actions are always in relation with place and time, so the theory of place is always there (Ernste, 2012). Because the theory of place pursues the contingent process that emphasizes the institutional and individual practices. Not just as a single concept, but with all their characteristics taken into account (Gregory et al, 2009).

References

Ernste, H. (2012). Spatial Action: Classical Action Theories. Personal communication, 14 September 2012. Radboud University Nijmegen.

Gregory, D., Johnston, R., Pratt, G., Watts, M., Whatmore, S. (2009). The dictionary of human geography (5th edition). United Kingdom; Wiley-Blackwell.

N.D. (2007). Professor Pred’s Obituary. Retrieved from[2] at 14 Oktober 2012.

University of California. (n.d.). In Memoriam; Allan Richard Pred. Retrieved from[3] at 14 Oktober 2012.

Werlen, B. (2009). Structurationist Geography. In: International Encyclopedia for Human Geography. Elsevier.

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Page published by Renate van Haaren, --RenateVanHaaren 11:07, 11 October 2012 (CEST)