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Delve into the distinctive landscapes shaped by social relationships and physical processes in various regions. Understand the three types of regions and the significance of formal, functional, and perceptual regions in geography. Learn about regionalization, sectionalism, and the concept of sense of place in diverse landscapes.
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Regions • 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 • Regions are the equivalent of scientific classification for geographers • Regions are determined through the cultural landscape • Three types of regions: • Formal • Functional (nodal) • Perceptual
Formal Regions • 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 • Formal regions help explain broad global or national patterns such as variations in religions and levels of economic development.
Functional Regions • nodal region is organized around a node or focal point. • Used to display information about economic areas • Example: circulation of a newspaper
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.
Perceptual/Vernacular 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?
Vernacular Regions A number of factors are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.
Regionalization • 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 • Regionalism • 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
Landscapes • 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 • Ordinary 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
Sense of Place • For insiders: • Sense of place develops through shared dress codes, speech patterns, and public comportment. • 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 • 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
Geographical Imagination • Allows us to understand changing patterns, processes, and relationships among people, places, and regions • Examples: • Industrial Revolution • Introduction of the Railroad
