My Community Terminology

Community - the places, people, and things, including businesses, streets, residents, services, visitors, and natural environment, that I interact with on a daily basis. A community is the area, not necessarily a rigid geographic area, where one feels most comfortable. Those people that also share the same community have at least one thing in common. The commonalities can be geographic, cultural, or personal. A community goes beyond the physical structures of a defined area.

Area - a physical, geographically defined place without solid borders. Area is a measurement of space and can be used to define a variation of sizes. The scale of the area for this purpose is large scale in geographic terms. The area geographically encompasses a few square blocks and only hundreds of people.

Juxtaposition - the placement of two or more objects, situations, or settings next to or in close proximity of one another. For this purpose, a juxtaposition has a negative context and provides a shock value. One of the objects for comparison usually serves a greater importance than the other, but are not usually comparable at the same level. A juxtaposition in the environment usually pits health against economic benefits, but not always.

Environment - in an urban setting, the environment includes a very wide array of disciplines, including sociological, geological, geographical, and biological aspects. It is the surroundings that make up a given area. The environment involves constant interaction and manipulation from natural and human actors.

Cultural history - the historical process based on cultural determinations. Cultural history is heavily dependent on traditions and interactions within a certain cultural community.