The Genealogy of Place Chapter 2

In chapter 2, Cresswell discusses place as it relates to geography. Place has many differences. One confusing aspect of the genealogy of place is that place stands for both an object and a way of looking (15). We can determine the existence by understanding how the place was developed.

In the geography of place, geographers describe place in great detail. This would ultimately describe the region. They would describe the types of soil, the bedrock, and the climate of the region. Humans and nature act differently to the geography of a "place". Creswell introduced the idea of "la geographie humaine" it looks at nature and human both acting together to define a certain place. To advance the idea of la geographie humaine, Creswell discusses two ideas that are derived from geographers Semple, Huntingdon, Sauer, and de la Blache. Semple and Huntingdon believe in the idea of environmental necessities shaping our culture. Sauer and de la Blache reject it completely. Sauer and de la Blache focus on the transformation of natural environment through "the ways cultural groups affect and change the natural habitats." In so many words, Sauer and Blache believe that the culture is developed from how the groups change existing environments.

They don't believe that the force of the environment comes from culture. Lukerman believes that place is simply determined by juxtaposition of nature and culture. Relph is against the idea of geography as a spatial science and defines place to be a concept of a "way of being," Tuan distinguished space and place by describing space as an area of movement and place as an area of stillness. Tuan says that place is determined by the bond between the place and the people, which he named topophilia. Relph concentrated on the value; how people belong to a place show the value of the place.

Place as a "home." Place helps us to develop our own sense of the places surrounding us and the parts that make it up. For me place is place. Nothing more nothing less. I feel most comfortable when I'm in my comfort zones. Such as places I grew up in. I feel more comfortable because I know those places, and I know the people around those places. The air smells a certain way, the streets look a certain way, the grass isn't "green", and the buildings aren't necessarily clean. When I travel outside of my comfort zone I notice the small differences but I never forget where I came from.  So for me place provides a little comfort. 

As I said before it's like walking in a new location. We are unfamiliar with the surroundings until we find that one piece of comfort that allows us to identify with our surroundings.