The Cultural Landscape
A single aspect of a given culture or society
cultural trait
Efforts to use and design public places to better serve the needs of residents and to foster a stronger community
Placemaking
The act of forcefully controlling a foreign territory, which becomes known as a colony
colonialism
Less influenced or controlled by religion
secular
Occurs when an ethnic or immigrant group blends in with the host culture and loses many culturally distinctive traits
assimilation
Heterogeneous culture that is more influenced by key urban areas and quick to adopt new technologies; the opposite of a local culture
popular culture
A focused geographic area where important innovations are born and from which they spread
The idea that cultures are converging, or becoming more alike
convergence hypothesis
The names given to places
toponyms
Occurs when an ethnic or immigrant group adopts enough of the ways of the host society to be able to function economically and socially
acculturation
The feeling resulting from the standardization of the built environment; occurs where local distinctiveness is erased and many places end up with similar cultural landscapes
placelessness
Barriers that completely halt diffusion
absorbing barriers
The phenomenon whereby the introduction of new transportation technology progressively reduces the time it takes to travel between places
time-space convergence
A regional variation of a language that is understood by people who speak other variations of that language
dialect
The blending of beliefs, ideas, practices, and traits, especially in a religious context
syncretism
An approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and cultures from a wider perspective of cultural logic
cultural relativism
A force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood, society, or country
centripetal force
A language of communication and commerce spoken across a wide area where it is not the mother tongue
A religion that actively seeks new members and believes its message has universal importance and application
universalizing religion
The notion that people adopt elements of other cultures as well as contribute elements of their own culture, thereby transforming both cultures
Refers to the fact that many places have been controlled or affected by a variety of groups over a period of time; those groups have reshaped the functions or meanings of those places and left behind layers of meaning
sequent occupance
The systematic killing of members of a racial, ethnic, or linguistic group
genocide
A trade language, characterized by a very small vocabulary derived from the languages of at least two or more groups in contact
pidgin
Religion that emphasizes purity of faith and is generally not open to blending with elements of other belief systems
orthodox religion