|
|
|
|
| A SENSE OF PLACE: INTRODUCTION
TO REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY |
| Created and Produced
by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Open Learning Australia |
Copyright 1996
Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Open Learning
Australia
All rights reserved. |
|
|
| INTRODUCING
"A SENSE OF PLACE" and "A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE" |
| The ABC and Open Learning Australia
have produced two geography television series that provide creative and insightful
examination of the many geographic forces currently at work in shaping the complex
features of the world and its environments. |
A SENSE OF PLACE is a 13-part introduction
to regional geography and A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE is a 13-part introduction to human
geography. Together, these two series show that the human and physical world is changing
in every conceivable way as a result of technological innovations and social, economic
and political factors, and that the rate of this change is accelerating. The two
series use a distinct geographical perspective to view these changes, a valuable
one that helps us to understand what is happening, where it is happening, and why.
The two television series are co-ordinated with and support introductory university
human and regional geography units (respectively) prepared by Curtin University and
Deakin University and offered through Open Learning Australia.
Using a thematic approach, individual programs examine the human and physical patterns
and linkages, drawing on physical, political, historical, economic and cultural geography.
The perspective is also world-wide, exposing the viewer to the distinctive landscapes
of all of the world's continents through case studies produced on location in 34
countries. Each episode also includes comments from eminent Australian geographers
and other expert commentators. The programs are hosted by Rhoda Roberts, currently
Artistic Director, Festival of the Dreaming of the Sydney Cultural Olympiad, and
an Australian media presenter with extensive experience in investigating and reporting
on contemporary social and cultural issues.
These two series are the result of the collaboration of an international team of
educational broadcasters and geographers from six countries: Australia, the USA,
Japan, Holland, Sweden and France. The co-ordinated work of these producers and geographic
experts has assisted in providing a global perspective to a world which is rapidly
shrinking.
Back
to Content |
| THE TELEVISION PROGRAMS |
| A
SENSE OF PLACE: INTRODUCTION TO REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY |
This television series is concerned
with the way in which physical and social, but particularly economic, processes interact
at a particular location to create a unique place. A series of international case
studies are used to illustrate the concepts of regions and regionalism and the way
in which these concepts help us understand the nature of a particular place.
Most of the programs include two case studies which show the way global economic
and social forces can lead to very different effects in different places. Several
programs highlight the way in which some areas have benefitted and others declined
as a result of the globalisation of the world economy over the past two decades.
Social and environmental changes consequent on changed economic circumstances are
investigated to ascertain the manner in which these contribute to the creation and
experience of places and regions.
Individual episodes are described below.
Back
to Content |
| 1.
A Tale of Two Cities |
| Content |
Case studies: |
Although the physical variety of
the earth's surface significantly impacts the characteristics of a given place, it
in no sense determines the nature of that place. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez are environmentally
similar, but very different places because they "belong" to different societies.
Places may also exist on a variety of different scales.
Back
to Content |
El Paso, USA and Juarez, Mexico:
A single mother of four wants to work in a Juarez, Mexico "maquiladora,"
but ends up smuggling cigarettes into El Paso, Texas. An American businessman tries
to lower the barriers to an international clientele. Responding to a tide of illegal
crossings, US border patrol agents undertake "Operation Hold the Line."
To understand the forces at work along the US/Mexican border, we apply the conceptual
tools of the geographer: relative location, distance and scale, realms and regions,
and human/environmental interaction, all through a spatial perspective. |
| 2.
A Global View |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
The planet is characterised by a
very obvious physical variety. There is the ocean/continent division, but also topographic
and climatic differences. This episode explores this variety, and the patterns within
it, some of which are stable and some which are not. Many of the processes of change
are systematic and non-random, operating at a number of geographic and temporal scales.
Back
to Content |
NASA : A geographer at NASA teaches astronauts
-- and by extension all of humanity -- to "see" the Earth in a new way
and to record it photographically. The rendezvous of the shuttle and the Russian
MIR provide an opportunity to examine the world in a new light following the breakup
of the Soviet Union. Introduction to overarching geographical concepts, with emphasis
on human/environmental interaction and physical geography. |
| 3.
Under the Volcano |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
Places are created by people as they
adopt communal strategies for survival. While the physical environment is important,
it plays a secondary role to social, economic and political factors. Both case studies
of this episode illustrate geographic change: In the Iceland case study, we see how
the application of technology has changed the way in which the society functions
and hence the nature of the place itself. In Ecuador, we find people inviting disaster
by living in the shadow of a volcano, but these are risks taken in the quest to survive
and prosper.
Back
to Content |
Iceland: This story examines the many challenges
Iceland faces due to remote location and harsh environment, as well as its cultural
evolution on the periphery of Europe. We focus in particular on the fishing industry,
and the reasons behind the industry's critical, and currently threatened, role in
Iceland's economy.
Ecuador: High in the mountains of Ecuador, we
follow a pair of scientists who employ high-tech methods to monitor the country's
volcanic activity. This team uses their findings to map a civil defence strategy
to help the local people better prepare for potential eruptions. |
| 4.
Going With the Grain |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
Human activity structures the landscapes
we live in, and agricultural landscapes are the most extensive ones created by humans.
While all societies engage in agricultural activities, these account for only a very
small proportion of total economic activity in advanced industrial and post-industrial
societies. Rice is a major cereal crop gown in many parts of the world, with wet
rice farming making a particularly distinct landscape impact. This episode's case
study demonstrates in some detail how a set of socially distinct farming practices
pattern a landscape.
Back
to Content |
Tohoku, North-east
Japan : In this case study
we illustrate the extensive labour and the constant monitoring of dangerous weather
conditions which are needed to grow rice in north-east Japan. We follow a farmer
in Tohoku who relies upon advanced climatological data to predict the best farming
methods for each year's crop. |
| 5.
Triste Tropiques |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
The two case studies in this episode
illustrate the development strategies of two resource-based economies. Agriculture,
in particular cocoa cultivation, is the backbone of the economy of the Ivory Coast.
Gabon, on the other hand, possesses oil deposits and it has followed a resource exploitation
economic development strategy. Both countries are former French colonies on the Atlantic
coast of tropical Africa, but now vary dramatically in their economies. Both countries
are subject to the impact of economic decisions made elsewhere.
Back
to Content |
Gabon : This story looks at Gabon's failed attempt
at growth based on an economy of wood and oil. It focuses in particular on the country's
poorly developed infrastructure, and how this has hindered the development of the
capital city, Libreville.
Ivory Coast : This story focuses on the connections
between elite and poor, as revenues from cocoa have enlarged the gaps between urban
and rural regions in this former French colony. A cocoa farmer, struggling with currently
plummeting cocoa prices world-wide, echoes the country's desire to modernise and
diversify in spite of the current economic crisis. |
| 6.
Tigers, Tigers ... |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
The two case studies in this episode
- Taiwan and Singapore - show how two places with very different physical endowments
can become very alike in many ways by adopting similar strategies for survival. Both
countries are enthusiastic participants in the global economy, rely on growth in
trade, and invest heavily in education and research and development. As a result
the character of the countries reflects social, economic and political factors rather
than environmental ones.
Back
to Content |
Taiwan : This story focuses on the development
of Taiwan as one of Asia's "economic tigers," and the factors which have
contributed to economic success. We meet an employee of a new industrial park in
Taipei, and discover why the location of this park, and the type of industry it supports,
are both in keeping with this nation's long-term development strategy.
Singapore : This story illustrates how Singapore,
which is small and poor in physical resources, has exploited the advantages of location
to play a key role in the development of Pacific Asia, by acting as a gateway for
the movement of goods and people. (Note that this case study is also used in the
human geography series.) |
| 7.
On a Road to Nowhere? |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
All regions have cores and peripheries,
and the characteristics of a place reflect both their past as well as their present
location of centrality or peripherality. While the centre of China's economic activity
is the southeast, the centre of political activity is in the north. Lanzhou's location
in northwest China means that life there is still very traditional, with little foreign
investment and few opportunities for manufacturing development. However its past
importance as a trading centre of great importance is testified to by its Muslim
minority.
Back
to Content |
Lanzhou, China : We examine the geographical factors
which have influenced the settlement of Lanzhou in north-western China, such as the
location of the Silk Route and a favourable crossing point on the Huang He River.
We also meet a family of Chinese Muslims to learn more about lifestyle of this religious
minority and their co-existence with the Han Chinese. |
| 8.
A Shifting Heart |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
The distance from the centre of activity
impacts significantly on economic possibilities, as the two case studies in this
episode illustrate. While Andalucia is in far south-western Europe, Berlin - once
the capital of the most powerful country in continental Europe - is becoming more
central due to reintegration of Germany, after many years of being economically peripheral.
Thus political decisions can change the centrality-peripherality of a place, with
significant changes occurring as a result.
Back
to Content |
El Paso, USA Andalucia, Spain: We focus on the once-prosperous
Andalusia region of Spain, and the gradual marginalisation of this area, now peripheral
to Europe's industrialised core. We meet a geographer who is studying the ways in
which Expo '92 had spurred hopes that another "Silicon Valley" would follow
in Seville and the current reality of economic recession.
Berlin, Germany : This story examines Berlin's transition
from a weakened and divided city, to one of emerging importance in a re-unified Germany.
We view the city's many distinct neighbourhoods, and examine the potential transformation
of each due to the removal of the Berlin Wall. (Note that this case study is also
used in the human geography series.) |
| 9.
All Change |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
Places are continually subject to
change. While this may not be very obvious in certain places, this episode's case
studies show two locations undergoing dramatic change, albeit on different scales.
In the Nanjing case study, the focus is on a village undergoing economic and social
change with environmental implications. In the Istanbul case study, we see how the
incorporation of Turkey into the global economy has implications for the way of life
of Turks living in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country.
Back
to Content |
Nanjing, China : We focus on a small village in Jiangning
county, adjacent to Nanjing, where recent industrialisation has effected the lives
of nearly every resident. We follow one family in particular, who like the majority
of the townspeople, once were farmers. Today, they are employed entirely by the local
clothing factory manufacturing blue jeans for a global market.
Istanbul,
Turkey : In this case study,
we explore the gaps between rich and poor, and between more secular Turks and the
fundamentalist movement gaining popularity in this city. We also examine the recent
rural-to-urban migration, and the resulting spread of squatter settlements on the
city periphery. |
| 10.
Remaking the World |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
While Egypt and the Amazon region
of Brazil are very different, they are undergoing changes resulting from essentially
similar pressures: population growth, the need to increase agricultural production
and the desire of their governments to increase exports. But the impacts on these
two places differ, thereby illustrating that global economic, social and political
forces can result in very different effects in different places.
Back
to Content |
Egypt : This story focuses on population growth,
agriculture, urbanisation and the formation of new towns in Egypt. We examine water
control in the Nile valley, irrigation and the ecological consequences.
Amazonia,
Brazil : In Brazil's north-east
Para State, we explore an unconventional approach to a long-held belief: once cut
down, rain forests like the Amazon cannot easily return to forest. We examine the
potential to manage the resources of this region using a spatial perspective and
some controversial new ideas about 'sustainable development.' |
| 11.
Winners and Losers |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
Social and economic change affect
different places in different ways. As China moves away from a centrally planned
to a market economy, the economic geography of the country is changing. As the southeast
becomes the focus of economic activity, Shanghai booms and a major industrial centre
in the north experiences problems.
Back
to Content |
Shenyang, China : This story takes us to the heart of
heavy industry in north-east China and examines the geographical reason behind the
region's development. Yet this booming manufacturing zone is now struggling with
steady decline in output, and through a local working-class family we see some of
the prospects for regional rejuvenation.
Shanghai,
China : This story examines
the importance of physical location and new government policies to development in
China's largest city. We join a ship's captain as he journeys along the maze of water
transport routes, all of which lead to Shanghai's bustling port. |
| 12.
No Place is an Island |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
As the world's economy becomes increasingly
integrated or globalised, it becomes impossible to understand the nature of a place
or region solely in terms of that location's characteristics. In the case of Australia,
the country has adapted to the new global economic system through a change in international
economic focus. The collapse of the Soviet Union has also produced significant change
in the direction and nature of its trade, illustrated by St. Petersburg.
Back
to Content |
Sydney, Australia : This story examines Australia's early
history as a peripheral European colony, the more recent influences of Pacific Asia
on the country's development, and the resulting re-orientation towards Asian neighbours.
St. Petersburg,
Russia: This case study examines
the effects of a market economy on real estate value in the booming urban area of
St. Petersburg -- Russia "window on the West." A local urban planner uses
a computer-generated map of the city to illustrate the importance of location, as
well as the style and architecture of individual structures, in determining the current
cost of urban dwellings. (Note that this case study is also used in the human geography
series.) |
| 13.
My Place or Yours? |
|
| Content |
Case studies: |
This episode investigates how people
feel about change. Sense of place is often attached to very localised areas, which
is demonstrated by the Boston neighbourhood case study, where local residents indicate
a strong attachment to where they live. And when people's sense of place is threatened
by change they find unacceptable, feelings of hostility and actions of protest may
follow. These occasions offer a very visible demonstration that places are made by
people ... by planners, developers, architects and politicians, and through the daily
activities of all people, where they work and where they live.
Back
to Content |
Boston, USA: In a competition with other cities across
the country, a geographer works with representatives from each of the Boston's culturally
diverse neighbourhoods to create a special map. They are designating space within
the impoverished inner city to receive 'empowerment' through government funds. |
|
| PURCHASE
OF THE TWO SERIES OUTSIDE OF AUSTRALIA |
| If you are interested in broadcast,
distribution or purchase of A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE and A SENSE OF PLACE television
series outside of Australia, please contact: |
Manager, ABC International
GPO Box 9994
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia |
| telephone:+61-2-9950-3177 |
| fax:+61-2-9950-3169 |
Note: Distribution by ABC International
is available in the following countries: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, People's
Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the
Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Bangladesh Fiji, Vanuatu,
the Cook Islands, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalo, Western Samoa, the Soloman Islands and
other countries and territories in the South Pacific region. For information on distribution
of the series in other countries, contact the ABC TV Project Manager, Open Learning
(details below).
Back
to Content |
| OPEN LEARNING AUSTRALIA |
For information about Open Learning
Australia, write to:
Open Learning Australia
P.O. Box 18059
Collins Street East
Melbourne VIC 3000
AUSTRALIA |
| fax+61-3-9903-8976. |
| Open Learning Australia email inquiries
to: cls@ola.edu.au |
Open Learning Australia World Wide
Web address:http://www.ola@ola.edu.au
Back
to Content |
|
| FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT
THE PARTNERS, ADVISORS AND PRODUCTION TEAM OF "A SENSE OF PLACE" SEE A WORLD
OF DIFFERENCE |
| |
|
|
|
|
Tell
a friend