1.3.10 Urban Management and the Challenges of Continuity and Change Flashcards
• Re-imaging and regenerating affects the social and economic characteristics of urban places and may create conflicting perceptions • Ongoing challenges in urban places where regeneration / rebranding are absent or have failed or are causing overheating • New challenges of managing change in some urban communities associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and economic change
1
Q
What is rebranding and regeneration?
A
Changing the image and fabric of an area to encourage people to invest and encourage people into the area
2
Q
How was there conflict from the Clays Lane Estate?
A
- It was a housing co-operative development built in 1977
- It created a new community for vulnerable single people in Newham
- The site was designated for the Olympic athletes village and the 430 residents were forced to move
- There was a public inquiry and much opposition
- Now housing costs are 3x higher, despite still living in East London
3
Q
How was there conflict from local businesses in Stratford?
A
- Had to close down
- H S Foremans’ new factory was closed down
4
Q
How was there conflict from the Carpenters Estate Council Estate?
A
- It is a run down housing estate in Stratford
- UCL proposed building a £1 billion university quarter there
- This was passed by the Newham council in October 2012
- 250 residents faced their houses/flats being demolished and mass evictions
- They set up a protest group and website
- Their ‘Three Towers’ play illustrating issues of social inequality had a short run at the Camden’s People Theatre in 2014
5
Q
What happened to the proposed UCL development in Stratford?
A
- UCL was put off by the conflict as they didn’t want a bad image
- No longer pursuing its proposal to build a campus on the Carpenters Estate site but are still committed to redeveloping the site
- Due to occupy Olympicopolis in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
6
Q
Why did the LDDC cause conflict amongst locals?
A
- It was an undemocratic body with little to no relationship with local councils and planning authorities
- There was a perception that it consistently put the needs of big businesses above those of local people
- Relatively little emphasis was put on social housing
- Most of the prime riverside sites went to developers and large scale office developments took place of small industrial/housing developments
- Building London City Airport caused sharp splits in local opinion
7
Q
What are examples of gentrification causing conflict?
A
- A brick was thrown through the window of the Cereal Killer breakfast cafe in Shoreditch
- Loss of ethnic diversity in Notting Hill
8
Q
How is the digital revolution causing conflict?
A
- Settlements are now hubs (not physical places with links)
- Data and information can be exchanged between people no matter how far away they are physically
- The annihilation of space in favour of the ubiquitous commons
- Most of our social, romantic and work life is online now
- Data storage takes place at storage points held by organisations, like in Silicon Valley
- Causes data privacy issues as powerful corporations and governments can access people’s data
9
Q
How does the desire to live in safe cities cause conflict?
A
- Perceptions of security are driven by crime and health statistics, infrastructure safety, terrorism and crime
- Conflict between groups that want more policing and those who want less ‘stop and search’
- Insider vs outsider perspectives
- Outsider perspectives influenced by media representation
10
Q
How does Uber work?
A
- GPS location
- Smart phone/internet
11
Q
Who benefits from Uber?
A
Consumers:
- 1/3 the cost of black cabs
- Pin points your location so cars come to you without having to hail a black cab
Drivers:
- Gig economy gives them freedom and flexibility
12
Q
Who loses out from Uber?
A
- Black cab drivers
- Uber drivers are undermining their skill set
13
Q
How does Deliveroo and Uber Eats cause conflict?
A
- Led to the rise of dark kitchens, where people are making food to deliver but are not physical restaurants and often evade the health inspector
- Consumers can get ill
- Consumers have more choice
- People can sell food and earn money
14
Q
What is overheating?
A
- When prices rise, but productivity does not
- A rush to invest in a places causes productivity to actually decrease
15
Q
How is the South East’s housing market overheating?
A
- Rapid development has not been matched by adequate housing and infrastructure provision
- 1/3 of tenants in the South East and London pay more than 50% of their take-home pay to landlords
- Once rents or mortgage payments reach more than 30% of household income, quality of life beings to be impacted
- Wealthy foreign investors treat homes as investments rather than places to live and leave houses empty
- Need to restrict their ability to buy property in the UK
16
Q
Why is San Francisco overheating?
A
- Caused by their Tech City brand
17
Q
How is London’s house market overheating?
A
- Demand for housing is increasing by 2000 per week
- Causes house prices to rise which attracts further investment from overseas investors
- Home ownership is way beyond what working Londoners can afford
18
Q
How is London’s commercial property market overheating?
A
- Shortage of brownfield land as a result of demand for commercial property
- Imperial Research Hub (White City) was built 45 minutes away from the nearest Imperial university halls of residence
- Public transport is congested during rush hour due to companies and FDI moving into central London
- Upgrades to public transport are disruptive and cost £2000 per person per year
19
Q
What is the Francis Crick institute?
A
- Bio medical research
- Employs 1500 qualified staff
20
Q
Why was the Francis Crick Institute built in London?
A
- Near King’s Cross station, which is the most well connected part of London
- Expertise of surrounding universities
- Patient variety in London hospitals
- Appeal of London as a global city for young scientists from across the world
- Financial and legal expertise required to commercialise research
21
Q
How did building the Francis Crick Institute place demands on London?
A
- Housing costs have increased in London by 10% per year in the last 2 decades
- Inflation of prices in shops
- Congestion on transport
- Competition for offices leads to skyscrapers
- Greater income inequality
22
Q
Where is brownfield land being used up in London?
A
-Shoreditch and Stratford
- Filled up by tertiary, quaternary and housing
23
Q
What are the housing problems for London as a result of overheating?
A
- 2000 new people in London every 8 days
- Needs 42,000 extra homes per year for ten year
- Household size increasing from 2.35 to 2.47, leading to overcrowded homes
- House prices rising 10% per year vs 3.1% outside London
- Plutocratisation as foreign investors buy up London property
24
Q
What are the transport problems and solutions for London as a result of overheating?
A
- Strain on transport due to increased population and economic activity
- New projects built such as the Elizabeth line, orbital railway and Heathrow expansion
25
How is London causing problems for the rest of the country?
- Cause the brain drain
- Best and brightest are attracted to London
- Cities outside London are struggling to recruit talent
- London firms dominate the UK
- Accusations that London has a metropolitan elite which are out of touch with the rest of the country
26
What problems are happening in fast growth cities?
- Include Swindon, Cambridge, Oxford, Milton Keynes and Edinburgh
- Similar problems with house prices and transport congestion
- Those without qualifications are left behind and find life increasingly expensive and difficult
27
What are the statistics for inequality in London?
- Highest proportion (15%) of people in the poorest tenth nationally but the second highest proportion (15%) of people in the richest tenth
- Most unequal pay distribution of any part of the UK
- The top 10% of employees receive at least £1,420 a week vs the bottom 10% who earn no more than £340 a week
- The richest tenth of households account for £260 billion of financial wealth but the poorest tenth have a negative financial wealth of -£1.3 billion (more debt than assets)
- Bottom 30% spend over 50% of income on rent to landlords in the top 30%
28
What new infrastructure is trying to improve inequality?
- HS1 and HS2
- New bus routes
- Broadband networks
29
What are transition towns doing?
- Encourage an awareness of how climate change and future energy scarcity may affect local places
- Allows places to prepare or change
- Emphasis on local food growing and encouraging the local purchasing of food, energy generation, conservation, transport and reviving crafting skills
- Local multiplier effect shows that every £1 spent in local suppliers generated spending of £1.76 in the local economy
- Only 36p is generated if the same £1 was spent in a supermarket
30
How do local currencies promote local places?
- Encourages local spending
- Wealth remains within the local economy
- Stops economic leakage to large MNCs or wealthy people
- Boosts income of people on modest incomes and encourages local employment
E.g. Totnes or Brixton
31
What does concentration mean?
The increasing juxtaposition of similar social and racial groups
32
What does invasion mean?
The migration of similar groups into an area
33
What does succession mean?
The replacement of one group by an incoming group
34
What was the succession of Brick Lane
1861 - Huguenots
1880 - East European Jews (formed the largest Jewish community in Europe with over 40 synagogues)
1970 - Bangladeshi community
35
What is flight?
Departure of the former inhabitants of an area (usually white flight)
36
What is ethnic segregation?
The concentration of minority ethnic groups
E.g. Bangladeshi in Tower Hamlets/Brick Lane
37
What is class segregation?
The concentration of particular earning and employment groups
38
What is life-cycle segregation?
- At different ages and stages of life
E.g. Singleton, Ashford attracts young families as all houses are new (either detached or semi-detached), all have gardens and there is a goodprimary school
39
What is an example of lifestyle segregation?
- LGBTQ+ community in Brighton
- Area caters towards their demographic
- People can meet someone similar, feel comfortable and use the available facilities
40
What is linguistic segregation?
- Immigrant groups with a common language may form a community by living in the same location
- May have limited interaction with English speakers, which hinders interaction with the wider community
41
What is religious segregation?
The concentration of adherents to a religion over time
42
How does the availability of housing cause residential segregation?
- Lack of starter homes for young people or social housing for low-income households
- New housing may be expensive and only available to people with large deposits/salaries
- Social housing was previously concentrated on estates by the governments but this has now been replaced by pepperpotting
- 25% of new developments must be put aside as social housing
43
How is the ability to pay for housing causing residential segregation?
- results from inequalities in income
- Income inequality is highest in London
44
How are gatekeepers causing residential segregation??
- Landlords can re-engineer the social make up of a neigbourhood by raising rents
- Rents are set a levels which are determined by demand or to include/exclude certain social groups
- Mortgages awarded on a basis of ability to pay deposit and subsequent monthly payments
- More affluent parents can assist with deposits
- This enables their children to live in more desirable areas or to have a foot on the ladder towards living in the most suitable neighbourhood for their lifestyle
45
How is the demand for housing causing residential segregation?
- May be caused by gentrification
- Londoners pushed to outer boroughs and beyond
- Overseas investors are raising level of demand in London but are leaving expensive property empty
46
How is threat hypothesis causing residential segregation?
- Segregation is stimulated by perceived and actual threats to way of life
- Perceived social threats and perceived danger of crime
- This is often portrayed by the media
47
How will the riots impact people's perceptions of Tottenham?
- Deter people
- Attract those who need lower housing costs
48
How is the marginalisation of workers causing residential segregation?
- Especially in manufacturing due to deindustrialisation and competition
- Competition between the more educated and other ethnic groups (often immigrants) for new jobs
49
How are government policies towards housing immigrants causing residential segregation?
- There are government-defined dispersal areas for asylum seekers
- These lead to the growth of refugee communities (e.g. Bolton, Portsmouth, Rotherham, Swansea)
50
How are past government policies about council estates causing residential segregation?
- Pushed lower income households into peripheral estates
- Many areas are still marginalised despite the right-to-buy initiative
51
How are immigrant groups clustering causing residential segregation?
- Often congregate in the area in which they first arrived before spreading to other areas over time
- Family and friends come to the same neighbourhood which causes chain migration
E.g. Bangladeshi Muslims in Brick Lane
52
How are affluent households causing residential segregation?
- These areas attract more affluent people
- The greater the wealth of the city expressed as GDP per capita, the more affluent the areas present
E.g. Chelsea
53
How are gated communities causing residential segregation?
- Creates fear by building gated/walled developments
54
How are unforeseen consequences of past social policies causing residential segregation?
- A series of policies to address inequalities gave rise to greater inequality and segregation in the late 20th century
- Educational reforms lead to a greater body of well qualified people
- Segregated by educational outcome as there was a new elite
- Full employment in the 1960s lead to the wages of those in the worst hobs declining while those in higher positions saw salaries rising
- Rich bought more whereas those in poverty were excluded from being consumers
- Prejudice against the less fortunate by birth, ability, home location and place in the labour market rose
- Affluence has lead to greed for ever higher salaries to enable people to live a life that equates with their status (e.g. bankers/lawyers in suburbs)
- Those in a state of despair live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions
- Most segregated are the homeless street dwellers and those who depend on food banks
55
How has inequality changed recently?
- The richest 10% became 55% richer over the last 4 years
- Gap between the two income groups is expanding
56
How does the deprivation data of England compare for Henleaze and Southmead in Bristol?
- People live 9 years longer in Henleaze than in Southmead
- Income: Henleaze is 10% least vs Southmead is 10% most
- Education: Henleaze is in the 10% least vs Southmead is 10% most
- Crime: Henleaze is the 40% most vs Southmead is the 10% most
- Health: Henleaze is the 10% least vs Southmead is the 20% most
- Housing: Henleaze is the 20% least vs Southmead is the 50% most
57
What can be done to alleviate poverty and segregation?
- 25% of all new build home developments over 14 homes have to be social housing/affordable housing
- 35% of East Village is social housing, despite the aim originally being 50%
- Birmingham school catchment areas reduce the problem of wealthy parents buying near good schools by introducing multiple catchment areas for all schools
- People in poorer communities have an equal change of getting into the best schools
58
What is contact hypothesis?
Encourage mixed communities, whereby those from deprived backgrounds live amongst and go to school with those from more aspirational backgrounds with greater economic/educational opportunities
59
What is fueling the UK housing crisis?
- Life expectancy increasing
- Old widowed people living in large homes by themselves
- Overseas investors/property speculators buying homes for investment but not living in them
- International migration
- Reurbanisation
- Increasing numbers of students leads to more housing being required in university towns
- Divorce rates increasing means one household becomes two (50% of all marriages end in divorce)
60
What have cities down to improve transport?
- Copenhagen has installed cycle lanes
- London has the ULEZ and congestion charging zone
61
How are cities becoming sustainable?
- Solar panels on the roofs in BedZED
- Green exchange in Curitiba to manage waste and provide a local food supply
- Grey water system in BedZED
- Mumbai banned polluting industries (e.g. leather tanning)
- Urban farms for local food supply
62
How are challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic being alleviated?
- Cities are converting vacant office buildings into residential units to address housing shortages (e.g. Centre Point, Ashford)
- More green spaces, parks and pedestrian-friendly areas to improve the QoL of those who spend more time at home (e.g. Victoria Park, Ashford)
- Co-working spaces are more popular to offer flexible options for those who occasionally need a professional environment
- Cities are investing in better internet connectivity and digital services
- Initiatives to support small businesses with grant and marketing campaigns to help them adjust to reduced foot traffic in downtown areas
- Enhancing bike lanes and public transport to accommodate changing commuting patterns
- New train season tickets enable people to travel to work 2x a week
63
How will remote working impact communities?
- House prices in places far from London but close enough to flexi-commute or WFH will increase
E.g. Margate
