Abstract

The study of place and space is fundamental to all facets of human geography. Space is often thought of as a geographic point or a segment of territory. There is no single way to understand place. In a broad sense, Cresswell (1996) notes that places are both physical and social. In the physical sense, we can think of place as a location, a setting for everyday life, and a material artifact. Place becomes a social construct when we think about ideas such as having a literal and/or metaphorical place in a social hierarchy, undertaking place-making activities such as community-building, and developing an emotional attachment to or relationship with a place (Castleden et al., 2010). Not surprisingly, health geographers are at the forefront of examining and articulating the connections between space, place and health. Health geographers’ engagement with these foundational geographic concepts in new ways helps show that place and space continue to be relevant to contemporary health research questions (Crooks and Winters, 2016).