Concepts of relations between human and space: theoretical and methodological systematization

Abstract

The purpose of this research article is to provide a theoretical and methodological analysis and systematisation of interdisciplinary categories describing the interactions between humans and space. The relevance of this work stems from the semantic and linguistic confusion within the terminological apparatus of several scientific fields (geography, psychology, sociology), in which different terms are employed for describing relations between humans and space. The author emphasises that systematising these concepts is essential for further research of these relations, particularly in the context of social upheaval, like war and forced migration, as an adequate understanding of them can play a significant role in the reconstruction and revitalisation of war-torn territories and in the creation of resilient communities in post-war Ukraine.

The methodological framework of the study relies on general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison, which allowed for the deconstruction of existing theoretical approaches and their grouping into four scientific paradigms. The phenomenological paradigm focuses on the subjective experience of space and encompasses the concepts of 'sense of place', 'topophilia', 'rootedness', 'insideness', and 'placelessness'. In this context, a distinction is drawn between the objective concept of identity of place itself and a person’s identification with a place, and the mechanisms underlying the formation of a sense of place are identified. The social-psychological paradigm examines space through the prism of its integration into the structure of personality. It operates with the concept of 'place identity' as a cognitive framework for an individual's self-identification and distinguishes between traditional and active types of emotional 'place attachment'. The social-constructivist paradigm shifts the level of analysis to supra-individual objects, where the concepts of 'regional identity' and 'territorial identity' are viewed as dynamic social constructs. The focus is on the processes of territorial institutionalisation and the participatory construction of the image of space by local authorities and communities. The synthetic paradigm combines elements of other paradigms, namely subjective experience with objective cultural, economic and political factors and discourses. The Ukrainian school of social geography also applies a synthetic approach to studying the relations between people and space.

As a result of the study, it is proven that the terminological diversity is caused by differences in approaches to researching the relationships between space and humans, and that the terminologies do not contradict each other, except for a few concepts. Phenomenology is capable of describing individual experience, psychology details the process of its incorporation into the personality, and constructivism explains the mechanisms of the social production of spatial-related identities at the group level. This performed systematisation allows clearly delineate the scope of each concept and provides a theoretical foundation for further interdisciplinary research into the concepts of the relations between humans and space.