Blog 6: The concept of space: location

Absolute and relative location

Absolute location is the unique location of a place as described by latitude and longitude, while relative location is location in relation to other things. Note that place and location are not the same; while a place has a location, it also has distinctive characteristics or attributes, and complex meanings for people, so a place is much more than just a location. Relative location is generally more significant than absolute location. For example, the climate of a place is influenced by its latitude, which is part of its absolute location, but also by its location relative to land and water masses. Relative location affects businesses through their access to suppliers, markets, infrastructure, labour and information, and it affects people through their access to educational and employment opportunities. Isolated locations distant from major centres are likely to provide

fewer opportunities for both businesses (unless they are tied to the location of resources) and individuals, than locations in or close to large cities.

Accessibility

Accessibility is closely related to relative location, because it is the ease with which people can travel to where employment, shopping, recreation or services such as health are located, and businesses can access the suppliers, services and information they need. It is important to recognise, however, that accessibility varies enormously between people in the same location. Accessibility for people with a physical disability, or who are dependent on public transport, or are caring for others, or feel vulnerable or unwelcome in public spaces, is likely to be constrained compared with others in the population.

Centrality

Centrality is the extent to which a location is in the centre of the spatial distribution of population, customers, businesses and employment. The central business district (CBD) of most cities, except for some in the USA, has high centrality because of its accessibility from the whole urban area. Similarly, rural towns are central to the areas they service, and large shopping malls are located where they are central to and accessible by the maximum number of customers, which may be outside a town.

However, the pull of the centrality of the CBD has been questioned in recent years. One reason is that in sprawling urban areas separate cores have developed away from the original central business district, often with easier accessibility because of the construction of new expressways. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an effect on many cities. During lock-downs, where people were required to work from home if that was possible, the daily CBD workforce was drastically reduced, and many

people discovered that they preferred to work from home for at least part of each week. If enough of these people continue to work from home CBDs will lose part of their daytime population, reducing the money spent at local businesses and on office rentals.

Proximity

Proximity is about being located close to the services, people and knowledge important to a business, organisation or individual. For some types of business, especially financial and corporate legal firms, face-to-face access to both customers and specialist services is vital, and they tend to cluster together in the centre of major cities.

Remoteness

Remoteness is the opposite to proximity, and is about places which are located relatively far from major population and economic centres. Remoteness has significant effects on people’s economic opportunities, and their access to education and other services.

Distance

Distance is also a locational concept, because it is about the influence of the distance between locations. Distance is important in our daily lives, because it constrains what we are able to do. We are likely to visit close places more frequently than distant ones, simply because of the time and cost in travelling longer distances. Distance influences our knowledge of other places, but this is also affected by our relationships with them, and the information we gain from the media. We may know quite distant countries because of historical ties, or family connections, or because we compete with them in sport, and be less aware of closer countries with which we don’t have these connections.

Improvements in transport and communication systems have greatly reduced the time and cost taken to move people, goods and information between places, and this has led some to contend that geography is no longer relevant, an argument known as the ‘death of

geography’ thesis. This claims that as knowledge is now instantly accessible anywhere in the world through information and communications technologies, people no longer need to meet face-to-face to obtain it. All locations are consequently equal in their access to knowledge, proximity is no longer a locational determinant, and a non-central location is no longer a disadvantage.

This claim ignores several things. One is that about half of the world’s people do not have access to the Internet. Another is the difference between codified and tacit knowledge. The former is knowledge that is recorded and consequently can be communicated widely in printed or electronic forms. The latter is knowledge that is in people’s heads, and this is most effectively communicated face-to-face. Tacit knowledge is important in activities involving learning and innovation, and its effective transmission also involves personal relationships and trust.