“Space and Place” and “Map and Tour”
To articulate the relationship between Space and Place by merely expressing one is stable and the other is mobile is a bit ambiguous because geographically these two are nailed in a solid spot.
To illustrate place is mobile we need to consider the intersection of mobile element in present or of a particular time in which represented an ensemble of different occupational activities, happening or happened, in that place. For example, the third floor of HKU main library is a place for people to nurture their mind or sitting on the chair leisurely to pass the time. Various movement are conducted in that area in different times, the place is experiencing different velocity, purposes of distinct activities by people who are using the area. It not only infiltrated a spatial memory different people, but also granted a historical context to the area, thus bestow a name upon the place.
Space on the other hand, is more like an area that is designated by the government official or the law. For instance, the architectural building on somewhere of Ma On Shang where no man has ever had any activities on, or a piece of random wall on the exterior of HKU continental campus. Although there may exist even at the beginning of construction of HKU, yet that area is never a place because there are not spatial or historical element inherit from any activities or shared memory in peoples mind.
One thing need to be emphasis is regardless of the diverse characteristic between space and place, they role can be switch over under different situations.
Tin Yiu, Wong 3035840239