Placesthings

Placesthings is a term used in informal contexts to describe the combined concept of places and objects within a data or knowledge framework. It does not refer to a single, standardized model, but rather to a flexible shorthand that appears in tutorials, sample datasets, and early design discussions. In this sense, placesthings can denote a schema, taxonomy, or graph structure that links geographic locations with items found or associated with them.

In data modeling and information systems, placesthings often manifests as a simple construct where records or nodes represent places (such as cities, venues, or regions) and things (such as assets, products, or artworks) with relationships that express containment, ownership, proximity, or association. This approach supports querying like “which items are in this place” or “where is this item located.” It is especially common in lightweight databases, spatial applications, inventory systems, and education or demonstration datasets.

Typical implementation patterns include separate place and thing entities connected by relation edges or joinable attributes, and fields that capture identifiers, names, coordinates, timestamps, and descriptive metadata. Because placesthings is not a formal standard, implementations vary and are chosen to suit the specific domain, whether GIS, cataloging, or game design.

See also: Place, Thing, Spatial database, Knowledge graph, Dataset schema. Placesthings remains primarily a placeholder concept used in practice rather than a canonical data model.