Geographical Entities, Spatiality and Relationality

This article argues that there is a “substance” within places that is essential for understanding local space and its spatial processes but remains a research lacuna in human geography. It consists of geographical entities which, through relationships with the place, participate significantly in processes within it, e.g., production of its space, configuring the nature of its space, and transforming the nature of the place. I first address the issue of a geographical entity and its agency that is attributed to it under the posthuman paradigm and how it may be viewed relationally, highlighting commonalities and differences between human geography and sociology, why entitativity does not defy relationality, the nature of relationality of geographical entities, and how it may be studied practically. Three geographical entities with different natures and geographical contexts are illustrated: the spatiality of an urban military base; the nature of a rural space created and transformed by an industrial compound; and the transformed nature of a place by an intentional community. The discussion highlights the merit of geographical entities as significant “substances” for understanding local space and the various issues and questions that surface when engaging with them. The conclusion dwells upon the value of studying geographical entities for human geography and for geography in general.