Why Do Some Places Look the Same? Understanding the Cultural Landscape
In this episode of Byte-Sized Human Geography we investigate discuss a concept that tends to stump many intro human geography students — the cultural landscape. Why does it seem that some places look so similar and why some places are so very different from every place else? We review toponyms, globalization, sequent occupancy, and a relatively new concept - placelessness.This is Human Geography byte-sized — big concepts in small chunks of time for all learners at every level. It's Human Geography, made simple!Support this podcast by clicking “Subscribe” to get the latest updates as they happen.Listener Notes: Place - what is it like there? Physical - 2:22 geography of the naturally occurring environment Human - 2:49 how do humans change an environmentCultural landscape- 3:00, 8:00, 11:00 combined properties of both nature and humans on a place, what we humans have done to develop a given region — includes buildings or any type of structure. The natural landscape is what was there before humans arrived. Carl Sauer’s term.Toponym - 3:55, 6:38 from the Greek - literally, "place name"Globalization - 4:16, 10:52 interconnectivity between regions around the globe via international trade, outsourcing of manufacturing, and technologyPlacelessness - 5:00, 14:54 a condition where a place loses its distinctiveness, what makes it unique from another place, caused by globalization/pop culture influences/gentrification.Sequent occupancy - 5:32, 13:27 layering of civilization over time, remnants of past civilizations in a current cultural landscape. Look to the great cities for examples of this, but you can find this concept everywhere. Additional Resources:Santa Maria Maggiore Web CamWhy is Nihon Called Japan in English?Large Scale Map of ShanghaiFirst Starbucks in ItalyRome Colosseum - nice application of sequent occupancy from this camera