查看文章

This introduction briefly covers the concept of place in geography and then the inherent social construction of spatial data in more detail. These lay the ground for a critique of how the GIScience/spatial analysis/geocomputation community have hitherto sought to take a platial turn, and set up the platial analysis later in the paper.

The concept of place is a core consideration in critical geography. It has a number of characteristics that GIScientists have struggled to robustly accommodate within a platial information system: place refers to multiple spatial concepts; places are spaces where the notion of distance is irrelevant; and place defines the socio-cultural context in which everyday lives are lived. Doreen Massey, offers a useful conceptualization of the idea of “place”, that emphasizes the changing nature of place and place-making (Massey, 2000). She clearly and concisely defines what constitutes a place:“places are spaces of social relations”(Massey, 2000, p. 459). This definition highlights the key difference between space and place and highlights the centrality of social relations for place-making. In this the concept of “place” incorporates a sense of belonging and kinship where space is anonymous but has the potential–with the introduction of social relations–to become place. Places also evolve and are dynamic:“the place goes on being made”(Massey, 2000, p. 464) emphasizing the force of time and the necessity of understanding the entirety of a place rather than at a “snapshot” moment in time. Place is also relative to the multiple and differentiated and public:“‘one place’can be known in numerous ways”(Massey, 2000, p. 464), suggesting …