Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
SPACE is seen as the opposite of place. de Certeau describes it as existing
“when one takes into consideration vectors of direction, velocities and time
variables. Thus space is composed of intersections of mobile elements. It is
in a sense actuated by the ensemble deployed within it. Space occurs as the
effect produced by the operations that orient it, situate it, temporalize (sic.)
it, and make it function in a polyvalent unity of conflictual (sic.) programs
or contractual proximities” (
ibid.
).
PLACE is stable and not effected by changes or the dynamics of everyday
life and SPACE is dynamic and a continually-changing conglomerate
entity that exists at any point in time in a form that is defined by environ-
mental, cultural and social 'formula', whereby the coefficients that are
used to describe particular spaces (and in fact the formula itself) are in a
constant state of flux. de Certeau describes SPACE as “practiced place”
(
ibid,
p.117), whereby a place does not come to life unless a user practices
it.
3- Mental maps, space and place
Humans develop mental maps of environments, real or imaginary. The use
of mental maps for wayfaring and appreciating geography is described by
psychology as 'cognitive mapping. de Certeau (1984) indicated that two
types of description could be made about how humans use cognitive map-
ping to visualise how they move in space: observational and operational.
Observational is how we record 'what we see'. We record this observed
information for immediate query (
Am I on the right road?)
or for later
comparison (
Was the house I saw designed by the same architect as the
one viewed last week?
). Operational is represented by 'the map' (“a plane
projection totalizing (sic.) operations”), 'the tour' or 'the itinerary' (“a dis-
cursive series of operations”) (
ibid,
p.119). The map provides a graphic
description of a selection of reality that shows a selection (usually made by
the cartographer) from reality has been classified, generalised and scaled to
show the relative positions of objects to one-another placed in an absolute
pictorial 'world' defined by latitudes and longitudes that relate to a map
projection (based on a certain mathematical description of the earth) that
depicts a compromised view of reality. The tour or itinerary provides a
sequence of navigational cues that are aimed at taking the user of the arti-
fact to certain locations - everything outside the defined 'corridor', down
which the user is allowed to travel (physically or virtually) is ignored, the
