Human Geography: Fall 2018 Media Core Concepts Assignment

This assignment analyzes the media article "'Crowds, Congestion, No Parking': Should Canada Limit Visitors To Its Majestic Parks?" by Leyland Cecco, published in Guardian.com. The article discusses the challenges of overcrowding and congestion in Canadian national parks, and the concerns of conservationists. The assignment summarizes the article and then explores two key geographic concepts: distribution (location) and place (ecocentrism). Distribution is defined in terms of the arrangement of phenomena over space, with the article focusing on the location of the parks as a factor in attracting visitors. Place, particularly through the lens of ecocentrism, is used to examine the importance of conservation and the impact of human activity on the parks' ecosystems. The analysis highlights the tension between tourism and environmental preservation, and the need for strategies like visitor quotas and increased awareness to mitigate the negative effects of high visitor numbers. The assignment demonstrates an understanding of core geographic concepts and their application to real-world environmental issues.

Running head: Media Core Concepts
Topic: Media Core Concepts
Selected media article: “Crowds, congestion, no parking': should Canada limit visitors to
its majestic parks?”
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

Media Core Concepts 1
Table of Contents
Summary of the article:..............................................................................................................2
The two different geographic concepts:.....................................................................................2
Distribution (Location):.........................................................................................................2
Place (Ecocentrism):..............................................................................................................3
References:.................................................................................................................................5

Media Core Concepts 2
Summary of the article:
It has been found that a large number of people are visiting the national parks like
Banff, Zion national park, Moraine Lake and other places (Cecco). At the same time, this has
resulted in major concerns to the conservationists and groups like Canadian Parks and
Wilderness Society because the parks are now congested, crowded and there are line-ups and
no parking space available. Factors like successful campaigns of the majestic sights and
nearness to airports are adding to the increased number of visitors. The media article
"'Crowds, Congestion, No Parking': Should Canada Limit Visitors To Its Majestic Parks?" on
human geography by Leyland Cecco, published in Guardian.com highlights the challenges
faced by the country in terms of conserving the popular national parks of Canada.
Keeping this alarming situation in mind, the authorities are limiting the people to visit
certain sensitive parts of the parks. With the increase in human foot traffic, the grounds are
also getting trampled with more garbage. In order to overcome these issues, the
conservationists are aiming to come up with a quota that would restrict the number of visitors
and would help in reservation. Other strategies include availing shuttles and increasing
awareness campaigns to alert people on the major issues. However, the conservationists
claimed that high number of visitors will have a long-term impact of these parks (Cecco).
The two different geographic concepts:
Distribution (Location):
As stated by Knox et al., distribution refers to something that is spread over a larger
area or is arranged over a particular geographical location. This concept is often accompanied
by other factors like the distribution of particular species of animals, plants weather pattern
and in fact, some disease or infection. Distribution as a core concept of human geography
can be categorised into location (Francis). Location is the term used to define a place more

Media Core Concepts 3
specifically, like the locality and the settlement of people in a particular place. In the selected
article, it has been identified that the primary reason of the increasing numbers of visitors is
due to the location of the place. The National parks are located at such places those are
surrounded by majestic scenery. However, it has to be mentioned that the article talked more
about the data of people visited in the various national parks and did not talk about the
attractive places located. The majestic scenery has been supported by two images that
signified the beauty of nature.
According to Whatmore, the distribution of nature in a particular place is an important
factor of distribution or location, as a part of geography. The fundamental characteristics of a
place and the availability of animals and other living beings are not merely incidentals but it
is only of the distinguishing factors of geography. The article highlighted about the Moraine
Lake and the presence of this lake is one of the distinguishing characteristics of geography.
The presence of animals like lion and deer are evident from the article but it could have
added more details if the information on the type of climate and the animals present in the
location were also mentioned.
Place (Ecocentrism):
Place in geography has been defined as a characteristic feature as a physical and
human presence. Ecocentrism as a sub-section of place denotes the nature-centred and the
political philosophy of a place rather than the human centered. Ecocentrism comprises of the
ecosystem, land and water and the other biological and physical factors that connect each
other to form the particular characteristics of a place (Kobayashi and Mackenzi). From the
selected article, it has been clearly observed that the National parks and other tourist visiting
places are indeed located at nearby places and this is one of the primary reasons that have
attracted so many visitors each year to visit the place. It has been further stated that the parks

Media Core Concepts 4
and the ecosystem are the major components of nature and cannot be treated as a means of
entertainment for the people.
The author of the article has focused mainly on the importance of conservation of the
natural places and has also suggested few ways of doing so. There has been the mention of
many places like Alhambra in Granada or the Forbidden City in Beijing where the visitors
have been limited and the conservationists have been focusing on reducing the long-term
impact of the degrading nature. Ecocentrism also contrast on the dominating issues of the
human activities and its adverse impact on the ecology (Aitken and Valentine). Ecocentrism
also talks about the ethical means of utilising the nature and its components and the priority
with which people should consider if a particular place is in danger. This particular point has
been highlighted in the article along with the specific role of the political and governmental
bodies to combat against such issues and save the ecology (Aitken and Valentine).

Media Core Concepts 5
References:
Aitken, Stuart C., and Gill Valentine, eds. Approaches to human geography: Philosophies,
theories, people and practices. Sage, 2014.
Cecco, Leyland. "'Crowds, Congestion, No Parking': Should Canada Limit Visitors To Its
Majestic Parks?". The Guardian, 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/04/canada-national-parks-
overcrowding-conservationists-call-for-limits. Accessed 8 Oct 2018.
Knox, Paul L., Sallie A. Marston, and Michael Imort. Human geography: Places and regions
in global context. Pearson, 2016.
Kobayashi, Audrey, and Suzanne Mackenzie, eds. Remaking Human Geography (RLE Social
& Cultural Geography). Routledge, 2014.
Turner, Francis,. 2017. Cartographies. Geography 1110: Introduction to Human Geography.
15 Sept 2017. Langara College, Vancouver BC, Canada.
Whatmore, Sarah. "Hybrid geographies: rethinking the ‘human’in human
geography." Environment. Routledge, 2017. 411-428.