The city-island-state, wounding cascade and multi-level vulnerability explored through the lens o... more The city-island-state, wounding cascade and multi-level vulnerability explored through the lens of Malta. Accepted for publication in Area. The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
Framed within the context of contemporary place making and the urban tourism destination, a novel... more Framed within the context of contemporary place making and the urban tourism destination, a novel trans-disciplinary approach to mapping and interpreting gentrification and cityscape change is presented. A combination of multi-scalar cartographic and visual techniques including Google Street View (GSV) and geo-tagged images (Photo Sphere), is applied within the setting of Valletta, Malta, to convey cartographically the dynamism of urban transformations and detect tourism-led gentrification in a rapid way through the identification of the visual and aesthetic markers of gentrification. Utilising a critical approach, such map-making can inform and transform the understanding of the processes underpinning urban change and their cartographic and visual representation. It identifies and highlights issues of image and street-level ‘realities’ for both (re)imagining and marketing place. Individual tourists are able to access and utilise GSV and other mobile digital imaging and cartographic tools, as well as social media, to create their own, potentially counter, place-imaginaries and interpretations of urban change, thereby encouraging and/or discouraging visiting the city
In the 1950s the University of Durham was involved in a number of separate externally-funded proj... more In the 1950s the University of Durham was involved in a number of separate externally-funded projects that were aimed at assessing Malta's potential for development after it became independent from the United Kingdom. Following a pilot study, a group led by W.B. Fisher of the Department of Geography together with a team from the University of Malta, obtained what at the time were substantial funds from the Colonial Office's Colonial Economic Research Committee (CERC). Concurrently K.C. Dunham, Head of the Department of Geology, successfully obtained support from British Petroleum to carry out a geological survey, while a soil survey was separately commissioned. As well as marking the first of what was to become an established tradition of applied development projects in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, the Durham Geography Department also used its growing profile of external funding to stimulate an expansion of both its teaching and its research, so as to become one of the largest departments in the United Kingdom. Reflecting the zeitgeist of the time, Fisher and his colleagues viewed applied research, not only as an academic exercise but also as a route to human betterment, and perceived the researchers' task as providing information and policy options upon which decisions makers may formulate policy. They eschewed any attempt to fully consider different development strategies. However, some younger researchers in their later outputs and doctoral theses adopted a more critical approach about the options for Malta's future. The principal issue raised by Durham team was a concern that post-independence Malta was facing a Malthusian trap in which the islands would not have a sufficiently productive resource base to support its growing population. Over the past six decades the trap has been avoided because of a growing economy, but today pressures of people on resources are once more acute and a case is made for a second land-use survey.
At the nexi between urban aesthetics, power of the affluent elite, property and tourism destinati... more At the nexi between urban aesthetics, power of the affluent elite, property and tourism destinations are complex intersections. These are explored utilising a critical theory approach within the context of neoliberalism and the concept of 'aesthetic common sense' is introduced. New conceptualisations of the ways in which tourists and others are influenced, demonstrate how they, through the processes of commodification and mediatisation, adopt the preferred aesthetics of the affluent elite. Cityscape aesthetics, incorporating both structural, top-down aspects (placemaking) and human agency (place-making) as co-performers in place making, impact on and influence, tourism destinations. An outcome is styled-for-status built environments and streetscapes. This is illustrated through the lens of Malta and its capital city Valletta, which presents a contemporary and dynamic exemplar.
Highlights-Intersections between waterfront property development and tourism product in Malta-Use... more Highlights-Intersections between waterfront property development and tourism product in Malta-Use of qualitative bricolage approach-Adaptive reuse of luxury property as mechanism for bolstering economic resilience-Links the stalling of waterfront development decline to tourism-led repositioning. 'Buying' into the waterfront dream? Trajectories of luxury property led developments in Malta
Fieldwork is widely reported to be an effective learning and teaching tool. The authors report he... more Fieldwork is widely reported to be an effective learning and teaching tool. The authors report here how international fieldwork has enabled successful cross-phase collaboration to the benefit of both school and university geography departments. Eleven years' experience of ...
ABSTRACT While there is established academic literature on cartography and Geographical Informati... more ABSTRACT While there is established academic literature on cartography and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), to date there has been scant investigation of attitudes towards the use of Satellite Navigation (Sat Nav) as a technology of navigation and the issues that may arise from its use. However, the impacts of Sat Nav tools on cartographic literacy, spatial awareness and graphicacy should be matters of interest and concern to geographers. This paper is an initial investigation of people's attitudes towards, and experiences of, Sat Nav. Based on a survey of undergraduate geography students (n = 46), navigational capacities and technological aspects of Sat Nav are regarded positively, whereas negative attitudes are associated with technological, safety and financial attributes of Sat Nav use. Distinctions were made between traditional navigational technologies such as paper‐based maps and Sat Nav. Crucially, the digital spatial representations of Sat Nav were not perceived as maps but as a distinctive navigational tool. Students also expressed concerns about the potential implications of reduced use of other navigational tools on their cartographic literacy and spatial awareness. We demonstrate that Sat Nav use is intrinsically changing people's wayfinding behaviour, processes and practices of navigation, and their understanding of what ‘maps’ are and do. Fundamentally, Sat Nav is not viewed or used in the same way as more traditional technologies of navigation. We assert that geographers should engage more actively with current interdisciplinary dialogues on wayfinding navigational technologies and spatial and cartographic literacy.
HUMAN GEOGRAPHIES – Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography, 2013
Green spaces are an integral part of many university campuses. Universities with attractive green... more Green spaces are an integral part of many university campuses. Universities with attractive green space areas often highlight these as attributes which contribute positively to the student experience and the image of the university. This study's survey of students at Liverpool Hope University reveals insights about students' perceptions and use of campus green spaces. The vast majority of students both use and appreciate green spaces, and consider them important for the image of the university and as an essential component of the campus environment. The aesthetic qualities of the campus and its design and management style, influence perceptions and use of its green spaces with formal, manicured gardens and lawns being much preferred over more naturalistic areas. We show that a university campus needs multiple forms of green spaces to satisfy the needs of a diversity of student users, and consider the implications for a university's green space development.
The city-island-state, wounding cascade and multi-level vulnerability explored through the lens o... more The city-island-state, wounding cascade and multi-level vulnerability explored through the lens of Malta. Accepted for publication in Area. The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
Framed within the context of contemporary place making and the urban tourism destination, a novel... more Framed within the context of contemporary place making and the urban tourism destination, a novel trans-disciplinary approach to mapping and interpreting gentrification and cityscape change is presented. A combination of multi-scalar cartographic and visual techniques including Google Street View (GSV) and geo-tagged images (Photo Sphere), is applied within the setting of Valletta, Malta, to convey cartographically the dynamism of urban transformations and detect tourism-led gentrification in a rapid way through the identification of the visual and aesthetic markers of gentrification. Utilising a critical approach, such map-making can inform and transform the understanding of the processes underpinning urban change and their cartographic and visual representation. It identifies and highlights issues of image and street-level ‘realities’ for both (re)imagining and marketing place. Individual tourists are able to access and utilise GSV and other mobile digital imaging and cartographic tools, as well as social media, to create their own, potentially counter, place-imaginaries and interpretations of urban change, thereby encouraging and/or discouraging visiting the city
In the 1950s the University of Durham was involved in a number of separate externally-funded proj... more In the 1950s the University of Durham was involved in a number of separate externally-funded projects that were aimed at assessing Malta's potential for development after it became independent from the United Kingdom. Following a pilot study, a group led by W.B. Fisher of the Department of Geography together with a team from the University of Malta, obtained what at the time were substantial funds from the Colonial Office's Colonial Economic Research Committee (CERC). Concurrently K.C. Dunham, Head of the Department of Geology, successfully obtained support from British Petroleum to carry out a geological survey, while a soil survey was separately commissioned. As well as marking the first of what was to become an established tradition of applied development projects in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, the Durham Geography Department also used its growing profile of external funding to stimulate an expansion of both its teaching and its research, so as to become one of the largest departments in the United Kingdom. Reflecting the zeitgeist of the time, Fisher and his colleagues viewed applied research, not only as an academic exercise but also as a route to human betterment, and perceived the researchers' task as providing information and policy options upon which decisions makers may formulate policy. They eschewed any attempt to fully consider different development strategies. However, some younger researchers in their later outputs and doctoral theses adopted a more critical approach about the options for Malta's future. The principal issue raised by Durham team was a concern that post-independence Malta was facing a Malthusian trap in which the islands would not have a sufficiently productive resource base to support its growing population. Over the past six decades the trap has been avoided because of a growing economy, but today pressures of people on resources are once more acute and a case is made for a second land-use survey.
At the nexi between urban aesthetics, power of the affluent elite, property and tourism destinati... more At the nexi between urban aesthetics, power of the affluent elite, property and tourism destinations are complex intersections. These are explored utilising a critical theory approach within the context of neoliberalism and the concept of 'aesthetic common sense' is introduced. New conceptualisations of the ways in which tourists and others are influenced, demonstrate how they, through the processes of commodification and mediatisation, adopt the preferred aesthetics of the affluent elite. Cityscape aesthetics, incorporating both structural, top-down aspects (placemaking) and human agency (place-making) as co-performers in place making, impact on and influence, tourism destinations. An outcome is styled-for-status built environments and streetscapes. This is illustrated through the lens of Malta and its capital city Valletta, which presents a contemporary and dynamic exemplar.
Highlights-Intersections between waterfront property development and tourism product in Malta-Use... more Highlights-Intersections between waterfront property development and tourism product in Malta-Use of qualitative bricolage approach-Adaptive reuse of luxury property as mechanism for bolstering economic resilience-Links the stalling of waterfront development decline to tourism-led repositioning. 'Buying' into the waterfront dream? Trajectories of luxury property led developments in Malta
Fieldwork is widely reported to be an effective learning and teaching tool. The authors report he... more Fieldwork is widely reported to be an effective learning and teaching tool. The authors report here how international fieldwork has enabled successful cross-phase collaboration to the benefit of both school and university geography departments. Eleven years' experience of ...
ABSTRACT While there is established academic literature on cartography and Geographical Informati... more ABSTRACT While there is established academic literature on cartography and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), to date there has been scant investigation of attitudes towards the use of Satellite Navigation (Sat Nav) as a technology of navigation and the issues that may arise from its use. However, the impacts of Sat Nav tools on cartographic literacy, spatial awareness and graphicacy should be matters of interest and concern to geographers. This paper is an initial investigation of people's attitudes towards, and experiences of, Sat Nav. Based on a survey of undergraduate geography students (n = 46), navigational capacities and technological aspects of Sat Nav are regarded positively, whereas negative attitudes are associated with technological, safety and financial attributes of Sat Nav use. Distinctions were made between traditional navigational technologies such as paper‐based maps and Sat Nav. Crucially, the digital spatial representations of Sat Nav were not perceived as maps but as a distinctive navigational tool. Students also expressed concerns about the potential implications of reduced use of other navigational tools on their cartographic literacy and spatial awareness. We demonstrate that Sat Nav use is intrinsically changing people's wayfinding behaviour, processes and practices of navigation, and their understanding of what ‘maps’ are and do. Fundamentally, Sat Nav is not viewed or used in the same way as more traditional technologies of navigation. We assert that geographers should engage more actively with current interdisciplinary dialogues on wayfinding navigational technologies and spatial and cartographic literacy.
HUMAN GEOGRAPHIES – Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography, 2013
Green spaces are an integral part of many university campuses. Universities with attractive green... more Green spaces are an integral part of many university campuses. Universities with attractive green space areas often highlight these as attributes which contribute positively to the student experience and the image of the university. This study's survey of students at Liverpool Hope University reveals insights about students' perceptions and use of campus green spaces. The vast majority of students both use and appreciate green spaces, and consider them important for the image of the university and as an essential component of the campus environment. The aesthetic qualities of the campus and its design and management style, influence perceptions and use of its green spaces with formal, manicured gardens and lawns being much preferred over more naturalistic areas. We show that a university campus needs multiple forms of green spaces to satisfy the needs of a diversity of student users, and consider the implications for a university's green space development.
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Papers by Janet Speake