Social geography is a branch of human geography concerned with the intricate relationships between society and space, often overlapping significantly with social theory and sociology. Despite its long history spanning over a century, there is no single consensus on its explicit content, leading to a diverse range of methodological, theoretical, and topical approaches. This diversity has resulted in numerous definitions and various "social geographies" identified by contemporary scholars. However, these different perceptions largely aim to answer two fundamental questions: how society is spatially constituted, and how social processes manifest spatially. The field's conceptualization varies; while in Anglo-American traditions it often functions as a sub-field, closely linked to urban geography and cultural geography, some continental European traditions view it as a broader approach to human geography or even synonymous with the discipline itself.
The term "social geography" (or "géographie sociale") originated in late 19th-century France, independently used by geographer Élisée Reclus and sociologists from the Le Play School. Early French works include Edmond Demolins's "Géographie sociale de la France" (1896) and Camille Vallaux's two-volume "Géographie sociale" (1908-1911), which often focused on descriptive rural and regional geography. In the Anglo-American tradition, George Wilson Hoke used the term in 1907, though without notable academic impact, while Percy M. Roxby later recognized it as a primary branch of human geography. During this period, American academic geography was dominated by the Berkeley School of Cultural Geography, with the spatial distribution of social groups often studied by the Chicago School of Sociology. The Netherlands also contributed with Sebald Rudolf Steinmetz's Amsterdam School of Sociography and the Utrecht School of Social Geography, which specifically investigated the relationship between social groups and their living environments.
Following World War II, this focus on the connection between social groups and their landscapes continued to develop, particularly within German-language geography. Scholars like Hans Bobek and Wolfgang Hartke expanded upon these ideas, emphasizing how "Lebensformen" (patterns of life), influenced by social factors, actively shape and interact with the landscape.