On the Subjective Partitioning of Space

This paper comments on some fundamental concerns associated with the subjective partitioning of space. In particular, we discuss some basic assumptions and epistemological positions that are both implicitly and explicitly assumed in the partitioning process. A brief discussion of scale follows to make the point that the epistemological assumptions involved in the transitions from personal to cognitive space have not always been fully appreciated by geographic researchers. The final section discusses some major problems associated with subjective partitioning and briefly selected recent publications that appear to fit this research area. Most of these selections are drawn from the United States research arena.