Extract

Critical spatial thinking, as outlined in Chapter 2, lays a foundation for extended applications and insights for understanding processes of individual behavior and societal development. The need to critically view the use of basic concepts (for example, location, distance, direction, region and scale) and advanced concepts (for example, spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity) calls into question current practices in education and research for understanding societal trajectories of change. This chapter expands on the interpretation of these spatial concepts in relation to time–space convergence and human extensibility; process constructs that underlie changes in individual human activity patterns and the societal organization of space. These are applicable at local through global scales, can impact social and economic processes at individual through group levels, and may alter the context in which individuals and society perceive problems and their resolutions. The chapter begins with basic definitions and advances to interpretations nuanced by measurement issues and empirical findings. In addition, it considers relationships between convergence and fundamental spatial concepts.