Time geography
Time geography or time-space geography is an evolving transdisciplinary perspective on spatial and temporal processes and events such as social interaction, ecological interaction, social and environmental change, and biographies of individuals.[1] Time geography "is not a subject area per se,"[2] but rather an integrative ontological framework and visual language in which space and time are basic dimensions of analysis of dynamic processes. Time geography was originally developed by human geographers, but today it is applied in multiple fields related to transportation, regional planning, geography, anthropology, time-use research, ecology, environmental science, and public health.[3] "It is a basic approach, and every researcher can connect it to theoretical considerations in her or his own way."[4]
Contents
Origins of time geography[edit]
The Swedish geographer Torsten Hägerstrand created time geography in the mid-1960s based on ideas he had developed during his earlier empirical research on human migration patterns in Sweden.[5] He sought "some way of finding out the workings of large socio-environmental mechanisms" using "a physical approach involving the study of how events occur in a time-space framework."[6] Hägerstrand was inspired in part by conceptual advances in spacetime physics and by the philosophy of physicalism.[7]
Hägerstrand's earliest formulation of time geography informally described its key ontological features: "In time-space the individual describes a path" within a situational context; "life paths become captured within a net of constraints, some of which are imposed by physiological and physical necessities and some imposed by private and common decisions."[8] "It would be impossible to offer a comprehensive taxonomy of constraints seen as time-space phenomena," Hägerstrand said, but he "tentatively described" three important classes of constraints:
- capability constraints — limitations on the activity of individuals because of their biological structure and/or the tools they can command,
- coupling constraints — limitations that "define where, when, and for how long, the individual has to join other individuals, tools, and materials in order to produce, consume, and transact" (closely related to critical path analysis), and
- authority constraints — limitations on the domain or "time-space entity within which things and events are under the control of a given individual or a given group."[9]
![A space-time cube is a three-axis graph where one axis represents the time dimension and the other axes represent two spatial dimensions](http://web.archive.org./web/20170127092021im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Sample_of_time_geographical_description.png/250px-Sample_of_time_geographical_description.png)
Hägerstrand illustrated these concepts with novel forms of graphical notation (inspired in part by musical notation),[10] such as:
- the space-time aquarium (or space-time cube), which displays individual paths in axonometric graphical projection of space and time coordinates;
- the space-time prism, which shows individuals' possible behavior in time-space given their capability constraints and coupling constraints;
- bundles of paths, which are the conjunction of individual paths due in part to their capability constraints and coupling constraints, and which help to create "pockets of local order";
- concentric tubes or rings of accessibility, which indicate certain capability constraints of a given individual, such as limited spatial size and limited manual, oral-auditive and visual range; and
- nested hierarchies of domains, which show the authority constraints for a given individual or a given group.[11]
While this innovative visual language is an essential feature of time geography, Hägerstrand's colleague Bo Lenntorp emphasized that it is the product of an underlying ontology, and "not the other way around. The notation system is a very useful tool, but it is a rather poor reflection of a rich world-view. In many cases, the notational apparatus has been the hallmark of time geography. However, the underlying ontology is the most important feature."[12] Time geography is not only about time-geographic diagrams, just as music is not only about musical notation. Hägerstrand later explained: "What is briefly alluded to here is a 4-dimensional world of forms. This cannot be completely graphically depicted. On the other hand one ought to be able to imagine it with sufficient clarity for it to be of guidance in empirical and theoretical research."[13]
By 1981, geographers Nigel Thrift and Allan Pred were already defending time geography against those who would see it "merely as a rigid descriptive model of spatial and temporal organization which lends itself to accessibility constraint analysis (and related exercises in social engineering)."[14] They argued that time geography is not just a model of constraints; it is a flexible and evolving way of thinking about reality that can complement a wide variety of theories and research methods. In the decades since then, Hägerstrand and others have made efforts to expand his original set of concepts.[15] By the end of his life, Hägerstrand had ceased using the phrase "time geography" to refer to this way of thinking and instead used words like topoecology.[16]
Later developments in time geography[edit]
Since the 1980s, time geography has been used by researchers in the social sciences,[17] the biological sciences,[18] and in interdisciplinary fields.
In 1993, British geographer Gillian Rose noted that "time-geography shares the feminist interest in the quotidian paths traced by people, and again like feminism, links such paths, by thinking about constraints, to the larger structures of society."[19] However, she noted that time geography had not been applied to issues important to feminists, and she called it a form of "social science masculinity."[20] Over the following two decades, feminist geographers have revisited time geography and have begun to use it as a tool to address feminist issues.[21]
GIS software such as GeoTime has been developed to facilitate time-geographic visualization and visual analytics.
Time geography has also been used as a form of therapeutic assessment in mental health.[22]
See also[edit]
- Agent based modeling
- Geographic information system § Adding the dimension of time
- GIS and public health
- Historical ecology
- Material flow analysis
- Spatiotemporal database
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Thrift & Pred 1981, p. 277; Carlstein 1982, p. ii
- ^ Lenntorp 1999, p. 155
- ^ Sui 2012
- ^ Lenntorp 1999, p. 158
- ^ Lenntorp 1999, p. 157
- ^ Hägerstrand 1970, pp. 20–21
- ^ In Hägerstrand 1983 and Kuklinski 1987, Hägerstrand cites the writings of Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington on general relativity as inspirations. Physicalist philosopher and sociologist Otto Neurath is cited in Hägerstrand 1970. While these ideas are important sources for time-geographic ontology, time geography should not be portrayed as exclusively physicalist. Hägerstrand also cited phenomenologist Martin Heidegger and conservationist Rachel Carson as major influences, along with numerous geographers (Kuklinski 1987, p. 507). "Hägerstrand wanted to stress the importance of the material aspects of the real world as the basis of life, with an imperative for researchers to take basic constraints into consideration: that natural resources, time, and space are limited... Nevertheless, Torsten Hägerstrand was not a hardcore materialist. His materialism is embedded in a deep concern for the importance of human experiences, reflections, and reasoning for the development of geographical knowledge." (Ellegård & Svedin 2012, p. 18)
- ^ Hägerstrand 1970, pp. 10–11
- ^ Hägerstrand 1970, pp. 11–17
- ^ Kuklinski 1987, p. 507; Buttimer & Mels 2006, p. 119; Ellegård & Svedin 2012
- ^ Hägerstrand 1970, pp. 12–17; Carlstein 1982, pp. 40–50
- ^ Lenntorp 1999, p. 156
- ^ Hägerstrand & Carlstein 2004, p. 323
- ^ Thrift & Pred 1981, p. 277
- ^ For a more extensive list of Hägerstrand's publications, see Torsten Hägerstrand
- ^ Ellegård & Svedin 2012, p. 18; Hägerstrand & Carlstein 2004, p. 323
- ^ For example: Ellegård & de Pater 1999; Ellegård & Palm 2011; Fischer-Kowalski et al. 2010; Kwan 2004; Latham 2003; Ringhofer 2009; Schwanen & Kwan 2009; Singh et al. 2010; Tani & Surma-Aho 2012
- ^ For example: Baer & Butler 2000; Brasebin & Buard 2011; Downs, Horner & Tucker 2011; Huettmann & Cushman 2009; Zhao et al. 2013
- ^ Rose 1993, p. 18
- ^ Rose 1993, p. 40
- ^ For example: Kwan 2007; Kwan & Ding 2008; McQuoid & Dijst 2012; Scholten, Friberg & Sandén 2012
- ^ Lewchanin & Zubrod 2001; Sunnqvist et al. 2007; Sunnqvist et al. 2013
References[edit]
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- Buttimer, Anne; Mels, Tom (2006). By northern lights: on the making of geography in Sweden. Foreword by Torsten Hägerstrand. Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate. ISBN 0754648141. OCLC 63187516.
- Carlstein, Tommy (1982). Time resources, society, and ecology: on the capacity for human interaction in space and time. London; Boston: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0043000827. OCLC 7946554.
- Downs, Joni A; Horner, Mark W; Tucker, Anton D (September 2011). "Time-geographic density estimation for home range analysis". Annals of GIS. 17 (3): 163–171. doi:10.1080/19475683.2011.602023.
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- Hägerstrand, Torsten (1983). "In search for the sources of concepts". In Buttimer, Anne. The practice of geography. London; New York: Longman. pp. 238–256. ISBN 0582300878. OCLC 8629687.
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- Lewchanin, Shari; Zubrod, Louise A (July 2001). "Choices in life: a clinical tool for facilitating midlife review". Journal of Adult Development. 8 (3): 193–196. doi:10.1023/A:1009598425503.
- McQuoid, Julia; Dijst, Martin (July 2012). "Bringing emotions to time geography: the case of mobilities of poverty". Journal of Transport Geography. 23: 26–34. doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.03.019.
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- Sunnqvist, Charlotta; Persson, Ulla; Lenntorp, Bo; Träskman-Bendz, Lil (May 2007). "Time geography: a model for psychiatric life charting?". Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 14 (3): 250–257. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2007.01071.x. PMID 17430448.
- Sunnqvist, Charlotta; Persson, Ulla; Westrin, Åsa; Träskman-Bendz, Lil; Lenntorp, Bo (April 2013). "Grasping the dynamics of suicidal behaviour: combining time-geographic life charting and COPE ratings". Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 20 (4): 336–344. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2012.01928.x. PMID 22591326.
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- Thrift, Nigel; Pred, Allan (June 1981). "Time-geography: a new beginning". Progress in Human Geography. 5 (2): 277–286. doi:10.1177/030913258100500209.
- Zhao, Jinfeng; Forer, Pip; Walker, Mike; Dennis, Todd (2013). "The space–time aquarium is full of albatrosses: time geography, lifestyle and trans-species geovisual analytics". In Moore, Antoni B; Drecki, Igor. Geospatial visualisation. Lecture notes in geoinformation and cartography. Berlin; New York: Springer. pp. 235–260. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-12289-7_11. ISBN 9783642122880. OCLC 821069756.
Further reading[edit]
- Adams, Paul Channing (June 1995). "A reconsideration of personal boundaries in space-time". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 85 (2): 267–285. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1995.tb01794.x.
- Adams, Paul Channing (2009). Geographies of media and communication: a critical introduction. Critical introductions to geography. Chichester, UK; Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 9781405154130. OCLC 237788695.
- Andrienko, Gennady; Andrienko, Natalia; Bak, Peter; Keim, Daniel; Wrobel, Stefan (2013). Visual analytics of movement. Heidelberg; Dordrecht; New York; London: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-37583-5. ISBN 9783642375828. OCLC 859590676.
- Boman, Magnus; Holm, Einar (2004). "Multi-agent systems, time geography, and microsimulations". In Olsson, Mats-Olov; Sjöstedt, Gunnar. Systems approaches and their application: examples from Sweden. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 95–118. doi:10.1007/1-4020-2370-7_4. ISBN 1402023693. OCLC 55502669.
- Chandran, Kumari Moothedath; Mani, Monto; Chakrabarti, Amaresh (2015). "A spatio-temporal network representation for manufacturing". In Chakrabarti, Amaresh. ICORD'15—research into design across boundaries volume 2: creativity, sustainability, DfX, enabling technologies, management and applications. Smart innovation, systems and technologies. 35. Bangalore: Springer. pp. 459–470. doi:10.1007/978-81-322-2229-3_39. ISBN 9788132222286. OCLC 898892950.
- Chowdhury, Debashish; Schadschneider, Andreas; Nishinari, Katsuhiro (December 2005). "Physics of transport and traffic phenomena in biology: from molecular motors and cells to organisms". Physics of Life Reviews. 2 (4): 318–352. doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2005.09.001.
- DiSalle, Robert (2011). "Pitholes in space-time: structure and ontology of physical geometry". In DeVidi, David; Hallett, Michael; Clarke, Peter. Logic, mathematics, philosophy, vintage enthusiasms: essays in honour of John L. Bell. The Western Ontario series in philosophy of science. New York: Springer. pp. 345–360. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-0214-1_17. ISBN 9789400702134. OCLC 719361722.
- Gren, Martin (2001). "Time-geography matters". In May, Jon; Thrift, Nigel J. TimeSpace: geographies of temporality. Critical geographies, 13. London; New York: Routledge. pp. 208–225. ISBN 041518083X. OCLC 52996864.
- Kellerman, Aharon (1989). Time, space, and society: geographical societal perspectives. GeoJournal library. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0792301234. OCLC 19130678.
- Kenett, Dror Y; Portugali, Juval (July 2012). "Population movement under extreme events". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (29): 11472–11473. doi:10.1073/pnas.1209306109.
- Kraak, Menno-Jan (2008). "Geovisualization and time: new opportunities for the space-time cube". In Dodge, Martin; McDerby, Mary; Turner, Martin. Geographic visualization: concepts, tools and applications. Chichester, England; Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. pp. 293–306. doi:10.1002/9780470987643.ch15. ISBN 9780470515112. OCLC 191847101.
- Kwan, Mei-Po (2013). "Beyond space (as we knew it): toward temporally integrated geographies of segregation, health, and accessibility" (PDF). Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 103 (5): 1078–1086. doi:10.1080/00045608.2013.792177.
- Kwan, Mei-Po (2000). "Human extensibility and individual hybrid-accessibility in space-time: a multi-scale representation using GIS" (PDF). In Janelle, Donald G; Hodge, David C. Information, place, and cyberspace: issues in accessibility. Berlin; New York: Springer. pp. 241–256. ISBN 3540674926. OCLC 48013756.
- Kwan, Mei-Po; Richardson, Douglas B.; Wang, Donggen; Zhou, Chenghu, eds. (2014). Space-time integration in geography and GIScience: research frontiers in the US and China. New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9205-9. ISBN 9789401792042. OCLC 890939038.
- Li, Xia; Kraak, Menno-Jan (August 2008). "The time wave: a new method of visual exploration of geo-data in timespace". The Cartographic Journal. 45 (3): 193–200. doi:10.1179/000870408X311387.
- Liebscher, Dierck-Ekkehard (2005). The geometry of time. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/9783527618712. ISBN 3527405674. OCLC 60413503.
- Long, Jed A; Nelson, Trisalyn A (2013). "A review of quantitative methods for movement data". International Journal of Geographical Information Science. 27 (2): 292–318. doi:10.1080/13658816.2012.682578.
- Massey, Doreen B (1999). "Space-time, 'science' and the relationship between physical geography and human geography". Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 24 (3): 261–276. doi:10.1111/j.0020-2754.1999.00261.x.
- Merriman, Peter (2012). "Human geography without time-space". Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 37 (1): 13–27. doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2011.00455.x.
- Neutens, Tijs; Delafontaine, Matthias; Scott, Darren M; De Maeyer, Philippe (March 2012). "A GIS-based method to identify spatiotemporal gaps in public service delivery". Applied Geography. 32 (2): 253–264. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2011.05.006.
- Neutens, Tijs; Schwanen, Tim; Witlox, Frank (January 2011). "The prism of everyday life: towards a new research agenda for time geography". Transport Reviews. 31 (1): 25–47. doi:10.1080/01441647.2010.484153.
- Neutens, Tijs; Weghe, Nico; Witlox, Frank; Maeyer, Philippe (March 2008). "A three-dimensional network-based space–time prism". Journal of Geographical Systems. 10 (1): 89–107. doi:10.1007/s10109-007-0057-x.
- Patten, Bernard C; Straškraba, Milan; Jørgensen, Sven E (August 2011). "Ecosystems emerging. 5: Constraints". Ecological Modelling. 222 (16): 2945–2972. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.04.019.
- Peuquet, Donna J (2002). Representations of space and time. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 1572307730. OCLC 49530164.
- Rainham, Daniel; McDowell, Ian; Krewski, Daniel; Sawada, Mike (March 2010). "Conceptualizing the healthscape: contributions of time geography, location technologies and spatial ecology to place and health research". Social Science & Medicine. 70 (5): 668–676. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.035.
- Raubal, Martin; Winter, Stephan; Teβmann, Sven; Gaisbauer, Christian (October 2007). "Time geography for ad-hoc shared-ride trip planning in mobile geosensor networks". ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 62 (5): 366–381. doi:10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2007.03.005.
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- Svee, Eric-Oluf; Sanches, Pedro; Bylund, Markus (2009). "Time geography rediscovered: a common language for location-oriented services". Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Location and the Web, Boston, Massachusetts, April 4, 2009. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–4. doi:10.1145/1507136.1507147. ISBN 9781605584577. OCLC 470652992.
- Yuan, May; Nara, Atsushi; Bothwell, James (January 2014). "Space–time representation and analytics". Annals of GIS. 20 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1080/19475683.2013.862301.