Cities and Social Organization: Spatial Variation in the Social Character of Cities Part 2: Human Ag

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Cities and Social OrganizationSpatial Variation
in the Social Character of CitiesPart 2 Human
Agency / Experiential Features

• Dr. Ivan Townshend
• Geog 1010

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Simplified Conceptual FrameworkThe sociospatial
dialectic
Social Structure
The spaces / geographies / differences within the
city are a product of both social structure
influences and individual behaviours etc.
Space
Geography
Human Agency
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Part 2 Human Agency.Key questions for
geographers

• What is Human Agency?
• How is human agency represented in different ways
  within the city?
• Are there generalizeable patterns of human
  agency or urban experience?

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Part 2 Human Agency.Key questions for
geographers

• Do areas / neighbourhoods / communities within
  cities differ in their types / intensities of
• Behaviours?
• Understanding / cognition of places and spaces?
• Emotional connections , feelings of place etc.?
• Well-being?
• What (if anything) helps us explain these
  differences?
• Social structure features of neighbourhoods?
• place-particular features (e.g. urban
  morphology)?
• Times-Space convergence of social variety,
  vitality etc?.

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Think of cities

• How do you behave?
• How do you interpret / understand clues in the
  environment / urban signals?
• How do cities / neighbourhoods make you feel?

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Do different cities / parts of cities have a
different effect on you?

• Safety
• Security
• Pleasure
• Sense of community, belonging
• Willingness to interact with others
• Fear of crime etc.

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Calgary
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Calgary, Kensington.
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Calgary, 17 AVE SW
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Calgary, Stephen Avenue
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Calgary, Stephen Ave. Mall
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Calgary, Chinatown
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Lake Chaparral, Calgary
Lake Bonavista, Calgary
Fake beaches/ Commodified landscapes
Famous urban geographer thinking deeply about
issues of privatization of space within the city
McKenzie lake, Calgary
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Lethbridge, AB
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Lethbridge, AB
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Canterbury, England
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Canterbury, England
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Valletta, Malta
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Tralee, Ireland
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Cork, Ireland
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Glasgow
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Calais, France
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Beach
Durban, SA
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Spatial variation within the city

• What about Neighbourhood differences in
• Behaviours
• Cognition
• Affect, etc.?

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From raw data to spatial variation
Individual Human Agents
Interviews, surveys, Subjective, experiential ,
behavioural data, etc
Aggregate info at (at nhood scale)
Non-Spatial Software Excel SPSS etc
Spatial Software GIS e.g. ArcView, MapInfo
Explore differentiation / Variability in data,
describe differences etc.
Explore differentiation / variability in data AND
Map / visualize spatial differentiation of data
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A Lethbridge Example

• Neighbourhood differences in
• Behaviours
• Cognition
• Affect
• Psychological Well-Being

Is there spatial variation?
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Behaviour
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EA means of Individ Scores
1. INFORMAL INTERACTION (Non-Intimate)
F. Scores
Spatial covariation amongst all of these
attributes
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
8. LOCAL FACILITY USE
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
4. MUTUAL INFORMAL COOPERATION
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
11. FORMAL ORGANIZ.INVOLVEMENT
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
13. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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Cognition
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EA means of Individ Scores
5. PEOPLE SIMILARITYAND IDENTITY
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
10. COMPLEX COGNITIVEMAPPING
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
14. SIMPLE COGNITIVEMAPPING
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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Affect
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EA means of Individ Scores
2. EVALUATION, EMPATHY BELONGING
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
3. COMMON VALUES AND LATENT INVOLVEMENT
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
6. SAFETY AND SECURITY
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
7. EMPOWERMENT
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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EA means of Individ Scores
9. STATUS SYMBOLISM
F. Scores
Lethbridge, Alberta
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Summary

• There are separate and distinctive geographies
  / ecologies / patterns of
• Behavioural features (dimensions)
• Cognitive features (dimensions)
• Affective features (dimensions)
• There is spatial differentiation / spatial
  variation (inequality) in the experiential
  character of cities and neighbourhoods

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Psychological Well-Being
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Index of Well Being (EA Mean)
Individuals Mean 11.1 Std 1.9
EA Means Mean 11.1 Std 1.3
IWB Scores
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The Ecology of Self-Actualization
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Looking for explanation e.g. mathematical
modelling
Social Structure
Limited , but some explanation
IWB Scores
Space
Partial explanation (subset of experiential
features)
Human Agency
Lethbridge, Alberta
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Conclusion.

• Evidence of Spatial differentiation (inequality)
  in Social Structure (part 1)
• Spatial differentiation (inequality) in human
  agency / urban social experience (behav, cog,
  aff).
• The city is a complex social mosaic based on
• Built environment / morphology, etc.
• Spatial representations of social structures
  (reflection of society, culture, etc.)
• Spatial representations of experiential
  structures (representation of human actions,
  meanings, feelings, etc.)

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Conclusion.

• Structure and Agency converge in time and space
  in unique ways
• Human (urban social) geography attempts to
  understand and explain these patterns /
  relationships
• Change thru time
• Impacts of scale etc.
• Geography Matters! (e.g. well-being)

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Questions?