Geography concepts

Scale has both temporal and spatial perspectives.

Places can be identified at a variety of scales, from local territories or locations to the national or state level. Places can be compared according to their cultural or physical diversity, or disparities in wealth or resource endowment. The characteristics of a place may be real or perceived, and spatial interactions between places can be considered.

Processes are human or physical mechanisms of change, such as migration or weathering. They operate on varying timescales. Linear systems, circular systems, and complex systems are all outcomes of the way in which processes operate and interact.

Power is the ability to influence and affect change or equilibrium at different scales. Power is vested in citizens, governments, institutions and other players, and in physical processes in the natural world. Equity and security, both environmental and economic, can be gained or lost as a result of the interaction of powerful forces.

Possibilities are the alternative events, futures and outcomes that geographers can model, project or predict with varying degrees of certainty. Key contemporary questions include the degree to which human and environmental systems are sustainable and resilient, and can adapt or change.

Perspectives whilst this isn’t a concept, it is a key way of looking at geography. Perspectives can be looking at an issue from the perspective of different stakeholders e.g. children, women, environmentalists, politicians, investors, states etc. Perspectives can also mean looking at an issue from a different lens, e.g. feminist, post-colonial, environmentalist.

Time is not an official concept in IB geography, but processes take place over time. Time is often a useful way of considering an issue. E.g. how places/ processes/ power/ spatial interactions change over time. You might compare two case studies from the same time period or one case study over time.