Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the book and introduces a number of key definitions and ‘species’ of space and spatiality which have occupied western scholars over the past few hundred years. It discusses how the word space has been used as both a noun and a verb, before examining how it is frequently held in tension with – or placed in distinction to – other concepts such as place and time. The chapter introduces eight key ‘species’ of space which reoccur throughout the book – Euclidean space, Cartesian space, abstract space, relative space, mental space, lived space, social space, and relational space – before providing a ‘user’s guide’ to the other remaining chapters.