Mental maps of global regions: identifying and characterizing “hard” and “soft” regions - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société
Article Dans Une Revue Journal of Cultural Geography Année : 2018

Mental maps of global regions: identifying and characterizing “hard” and “soft” regions

Les cartes mentales des régions globales : identifier et caractériser des régions "dures" et "molles"

Résumé

This article presents the quantitative synthesis of mental maps that identify different types of world regions. It is the result of a large-scale survey conducted in 18 countries, based on a sketch map approach. The number, shape, and extension of these vernacular world regions vary according to countries, cultures, and the personal styles of respondents who drew the maps. However, when we collectively analyze the regions identified by respondents, we observe that the figures of global regions are more or less recurrent. While the most commonly used division of the world is into “continents”, we can identify “hard” and “soft” regions of the world. Whereas a “hard” region, such as Africa, can be recognized relatively unambiguously as a continent, “soft” regions may include numerous regional distinctions such as East Asia, Russia, South East Asia, and the Middle East. Our methodology involves defining a set of characteristics that discriminate between “hard” and “soft” regions (measuring spatial uncertainty and the relative vagueness of limits and fringes), then accounting for the correlation of these areas on the world map.
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Dates et versions

halshs-01995757 , version 1 (27-01-2019)

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Clarisse Didelon-Loiseau, Sophie de Ruffray, Nicolas Lambert. Mental maps of global regions: identifying and characterizing “hard” and “soft” regions. Journal of Cultural Geography, 2018, 35 (2), pp.210-229. ⟨10.1080/08873631.2018.1426950⟩. ⟨halshs-01995757⟩
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