Behavioural school of geography
Also called: Behavioural geography · Topic: Human Geography: Nature, Scope and Approaches · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Human Geography: Nature and Scope"
Meaning
The behavioural school grew in the 1970s, when many geographers felt that the quantitative revolution's numbers and models had left out real people. It stresses lived experience, meaning how people actually feel about and see the spaces around them. It studies how social groups based on ethnicity, race and religion see the same space differently. It draws on psychology. Examples are Kevin Lynch's mental maps (The Image of the City, 1960) and Julian Wolpert's work on how people make decisions. Behavioural geography is counted as a sub-field of social geography.
Example
In Old Delhi, people from different communities may draw very different mental maps of the same streets. One group may see a lane as safe and familiar, while another avoids it.
Don't confuse with
- Humanistic school: it focuses on people's well-being (housing, health and education) and their sense of place. The behavioural school focuses on perception and decision-making.