Changing Places Flashcards
Place studies must apply the knowledge acquired through engagement with prescribed specification content and thereby further enhance understanding of the way students’ own lives and those of others are affected by continuity and change in the nature of places. Sources must include qualitative and quantitative data to represent places in the past and present.
Both place studies must focus equally on:
- people’s lived experience of the place in the past and at present
and either
* changing demographic and cultural characteristics.
or
* economic change and social inequalities.* note though that we will also look at some demographic data
You must engage with a range of quantitative and qualitative resources.
You need to be able to critically evaluate the various different quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Where is Cheam located and how does this affect the character of the area?
- Cheam is located in the London Borough of Sutton and has been subject to lots of change throughout the years
- suburban ‘village’ of Cheam developed as a small rural community around 15 miles from the city of London
- West of Cheam is Ewell, an area in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey. Ewell is known for its historic connections with there being a museum to display this as well. It borders Epsom and Ewell whilst also being in Sutton
How has cheam changed over time?
Human and physical changes
According to OS maps from 1894, 1950 and present day:
HUMAN CHANGES:
* Significant urban expansion since 1894, the settlement was quite compact before, suggesting it was likely centred around a road junction or parish church most of the map is agricultural land and open countryside. Can see in 64 years (1950) that been significant expansion especially along main roads (i.e A24 that runs along non park on NW side) and rail. This reflects post-war housing expansion.
* Mosto f the roads and railways have been preserved
Land use changes :
* Agriculture was one of the main uses at the time (1894) OS map shows Sparrow Farm just north of Non Park, two to the south: Priestshill Farm and Walnut Tree Farm - Walnut Tree Farm was sold by Revd E.W. Northey and bought as a sight for hospital - Cuddington Isolation Hospital (shown on 1950) -> closed in 1984 now mix of housing and nature reserve - Cuddington Meadows
- Banstead Asylum has become two prisons
- part of Nonsuch Park has been expanded, but it is now a National Trust area open to the public
- Sparrow Farm has been removed (1894) and has become an urban area for housing (just north of Nonsuch Park) and is also home to a leisure centre
Physical changes:
* Very countryside-y before
* 1 acre of meadow in 1086 (recorded in 1086 as Ceiham)
* In middle ages was known for its potteries
How has Cheam changed over time
With regards to infrastucture that kind of thing
- Infrastructure: become placeless with Waitrose and Costa and Café Nero there now less of an English Village feel
- During WWll Cheam Village station was where people would say goodbye to family members, Cheam was heavily bombed as well
- Railway built in 1847
- Nonsuch Palace constructed in 1538 by King Henry Vlll ‘nonesuch’
- had very fertile land before
How does cheam’s level of deprivation differ to the rest of sutton and why is this important to understand?
IMD: lots of variety with level of deprivation:
* Belmont most one of most deprived areas w 0.8% of LSOAs in the area
* Cheam is one of least deprived areas w 15.7% to 19%
* North of Sutton is most densely deprived area w St Helier and Rosehill
Reasons?
rich bc of prestigious schools n how it used to be used for agriculture
(index of multiple deprivation)
The theoretical approaches to place
- Descriptive - world is a set of places and each is distinct and can be studied
- Social constructionist - place = product of social processes occuring at particular time - i.e Trafalgar square being built to commemorate Britain’s naval victory therefore symbolising colonialism + empire
- Phenomenological - Interested in how an individual experiences place. Yi-Fu Tuan and Edward Relph are pioneers of this approach
Can add Relph and Tuan’s individual ideas later if necessary
How has Cheam’s demography and economic characteristics shaped the area?
Demography:
* 17.5% = Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh compared to in 2011 of almost 12%
* 68% = white now compared to 78%
* 45-49 years old of pop
* 35% are professionals
Economics:
* Mean household income = £40,000 in 2002/03 to £64,000 in 2016/17
* House prices: £650,000 for 4 bed semi detached. £3 million for 7 bed detahed house
Socioeconomics:
* unemployed = 2.2% compared to 4.5% in rest of london (NRU)
* % aged sixteen and over w no formal qualifications = 14.6% compared to 16.7% in England
links to the low unemployment rate
Investigating inequalities in cheam
Artistic representations:
* Poem by Edward Lear - “in the beautiful meadows of Cheam”
* Hancock’s Half Hour: BBC radio comedy from 1954-61 chose East Cheam because in those days was ‘the Beverly Hills of South London’, but chose east cheam as character wasn’t that rich
* paintings present it as a very elegant area with lots of agriculture and meadows
Inequality data:
*ranked as worse than average with housing affordability
* infant mortality is worse than average
What is some key background knowledge to know about Barrow-in-Furness?
How has Barrow-in-Furness changed economically over time?
How has Barrow-in-Furness changed socially over time?
What are the causes of changes to Barrow Vs Cheam?
How useful are Sources at representing the character of Cheam
- OS Maps - They don’t show any real photographs of the area. For example, Cheam is famous for its detached housing and idyllic suburban life, but it is somewhat difficult to distinguish how much it varies to Banstead for example which is much more deprived. Also it’s hard to see the developing placelessness as chain stores are present here: Sainsbury’s Café Nero, Pizza Express, Waitrose etc.
However, the OS map is able to show housing density - easily identified - means that can tell that Cheam has more detached houses than Banstead or Carshalton.
What are people’s lived experiences of the place?
✅How people perceive the place (media vs insider vs outsider)
✅How the place has been represented (film, art, advertising, government policy etc.)
✅ Sense of place: emotional attachment, identity, local narratives
✅ Evidence of continuity or change in the community
(also counts as distant place)
Evaluate efforts of rebranding/re-imaging in a chosen place (Medellín)
Anything to do with rebranding or how places changed use Medellín/others
(background)
Location:
- Capital City of the Antioquia department in northwester Colombia (= state)
- elevation of 5000 feet = 1500m above sea level along Porce River, a tributary of the Cauca, situated in steep temperate Aburrá Valley of the Cordillera Central.
- One of largest cities in country - extensive industrialisation w notable focus on steel industry
Initial Medellín:
- founded as mining town in 1675, few remaining colonial buildings
- well-organised city though and follows modern planning principles.
- Diversified industry: now does food processing, woodworking, automobiles, chemical and rubber products
- Referred to as Colombía’s Manchester bc of textile mils and clothing factories - major hub for Colombian coffee
older changes:
- Post 1914 era, completion of Panama Canal and introd of railroad from Cali (SW Colombia) = rapid growth, = vital transportation hub - shows importance of city on a local and regional level as it was its main source of growth and makes it more important for the greater country and in turn it is more important that it is looked after
Evaluate efforts of rebranding/re-imaging in a chosen place (Medellín)
Recent changes over time and how they were mitigated/rebranded
DRUG CARTELS IN MEDELLÍN:
- The Medellín Cartel = powerful and highly organised Colombian drug cartel and terrorist org og Medellín
- First major drug cartel - partnership of many colombian traffickers operating alongside infamous Pablo Escobar that led it
- Then grew internationally, particularly to US had lots of smuggling
- By mid-1980s, Escobar had estimated net worth of $30 BILLION - named one of 10 richest peopleon earth by Forbes
- By the end of the 1980s supplied 80% of the ENTIRE WORLD’S COCAINE
- notoriously known for killing people:
- 1000 of thm wre Medellín police officers or journalists, 200 judges and colombian gov officials - the homicide rate was 381/100,000, making it recognised as one of the most dangerous cities in the world
- study done by universitat jaume i = Medellín consumes 4 times more cocaine domestically than in bogotá
Evaluate efforts of rebranding/re-imaging in a chosen place (Medellín)
What is the extent of the rebranding/reimaging in Medellín
- been quite rapid change
- in last 50 years has undergone significant econoic development making it one of the fastest growing NEEs - making it more competitive and have a large national but also global presence as a hub for innovation and transport
