POST 11: SPACES & EXCHANGES: A MIND MAP

POST 11: SPACES & EXCHANGES: A MIND MAP

First of all it is important to differentiate the two components of the concept "spaces and exchanges".

A space is theoretically a delimited area, on a more or less large scale.

An exchange is the act of giving or receiving something in substitution for something else. The exchanges can be economic, social, cultural, political.

These exchanges, as we can clearly see on the mind map, take place in real or virtual spaces.

We will focus on this distinction by studying the two different types of spaces, and then we will focus on the exchanges made on those spaces.

First, we will look at different real spaces. Indeed we all know the two great spaces that separate the globe. This limit imagined in 1959, puts on one side the so-called rich and developed countries and on the other the countries which are more behind, less developed.

The use of this limit is however to be put into perspective because today countries located in the southern zone are in fact economically powerful and and begin to equalize with the northern powers in many areas Then, inside these same spaces, trans inequalities

appear through other spaces, very different but which constitute a country, a region.

I'm talking about big cities, metropolises that contrast with the countryside, much less modern, which is very little economically active and does not attract a lot of jobs.

Finally, in the very heart of a big city in the south and the north, we can very easily distinguish neighboring spaces but inhabited by very different types of population. the upper class district and the lower class district.

For example in the city of Mexico, on the image below we see these two glued spaces but a wall separates them and exchanges seem impossible.

Other spaces, are virtual, they allow to create and imagine invisible connections. The beginning of the 1990s the internet that we know appears and allows us to find ourselves on chat spaces, blogs. Places like encyclopedias allow us to be like at the library, but from home. Social networks are places that also allow to gather communities around celebrities, influencers.

In this second part we will study the different exchanges which operate, firstly, in real spaces and secondly in virtual spaces.

To return to the North / South concept that divides the globe, immigration is one of the most important exchanges. From north to south, for example, a new phenomenon, that of retirees Americans who choose to live in a developing country, therefore from the south, to be able to take advantage of better purchasing power.

On the other hand, migrations from south to north, such as this phenomenon called the brain drain. Brilliant students or young graduates from southern countries "flee" to northern countries to find work that meets their capacity, which was not possible in their original country due to a shortage development (especially in advanced technologies)

In this notion of exchange, there is also the importance of the cultural power of certain cities and regions of the world. The latter radiate throughout the world by spreading their way of life, their culture and their way of thinking. for example the United States is the first world power and this is felt since their language is the first world, their democratic model is today very present in the world and finally, capitalism is everywhere. In some parts of the world, coca cola is cheaper and easier to find than water.On the other hand, these cities host large-scale cultural events that have a global echo such as the Olympic Games, the World Expo.


For the other form of exchange, there are, for example, virtual spaces that host exchanges such as a lesson in a period of confinement between teacher and students.  A video conference platform is necessary.
Used massively in the world today, text messages are omnipresent. Indeed 200,000 are sent every second to the world. Connections are possible in a fraction of a second to get in touch with a person and exchange with them.