Oh, yes. I don't know about the people in the article, but psychogeography is still going strong. There are fewer scholarly works based on it these days, but the idea remains foundational to some geographic thinking. Whenever I'm in a new-to-me city, I try to derive for at least an hour and make notes/photos. I also have my students do a kind of generative psychogeography based a randomly generated route on which they 'derive', a key concept in psychogeography, while paying attention to and noting the location of stimuli to all of their senses - creating a "sense geography" of campus. Afterward, they make simple annotated "sensory maps" based on their experiences - smell maps, texture maps, mood/comfort maps, taste maps, etc. - using their own symbols and simple cartographic methods. It's a great way to see things differently and to get people to think critically about and discuss how spaces/places directly affect them psychologically.
I truly didn't mean to sound defensive. Sorry if I did; I'm just enthusiastic about psychogeography. I think it's among the most interesting ways to engage people with their surroundings.
I have read about geo-merchandising. I've also heard it called retail geography. How interesting to hear from someone who has actually done the work! What surprised you the most about what you found out?
Hehe. I have noticed that. I once read a paper that was a Marxist critique of such methods. It written in the early 80s I believe, so I don't know how applicable its premises would be today, but it essentially argued that knowledge of the retailers' expectations allows them to be subverted. A recent example of the kind of subversion it prescribed is found in a bestselling book here in the US: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. He suggests, in part, that we only buy food from around the outside edges of the supermarket, where the perishables usually are. Thus we avoid buying foods filled with preservatives to extend shelf life (and thus profitability) at the expense of healthfulness. To do so, we often have to navigate the more chaotic, high-traffic, oddly arranged parts of the store. But in return we get to "stick it to the man" a little bit, sharpen our cooking skills, and eat healthier by default.
Oh, yes. I don't know about the people in the article, but psychogeography is still going strong. There are fewer scholarly works based on it these days, but the idea remains foundational to some geographic thinking. Whenever I'm in a new-to-me city, I try to derive for at least an hour and make notes/photos. I also have my students do a kind of generative psychogeography based a randomly generated route on which they 'derive', a key concept in psychogeography, while paying attention to and noting the location of stimuli to all of their senses - creating a "sense geography" of campus. Afterward, they make simple annotated "sensory maps" based on their experiences - smell maps, texture maps, mood/comfort maps, taste maps, etc. - using their own symbols and simple cartographic methods. It's a great way to see things differently and to get people to think critically about and discuss how spaces/places directly affect them psychologically.
[This comment was removed]