EQ2: Why might regeneration be needed? Flashcards
What is perception and why might it differ between people?
PERCEPTION
- A vital part of a lived experience and affects how people engage with their place. It varies between individuals and groups of people and depends on factors including age, social class, ethnicity and overall quality of life. These factors may be real or imagined. People may give mainly positive or negative views about their place, which may alter over time (it is subjective).
DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION
a) Place identity can be a source of strength but may also be parochial, where people feel trapped and cut off from opportunities.
b) Perception of residents may differ according to the type and position of people; their needs and aspirations:
- Young people in high-earning jobs will enjoy the fast pace of life.
- Long term unemployed will have more negative views about their quality of life in a successful place.
- Retirees may view places offering a slower pace of life with a pleasant climate.
- Most will view the quality of the environment in rural places positively.
How do you measure the success of an area and why might this lead to a negative cycle?
MEASURING SUCCESS
- Success is measured by high levels of employment, output levels (GVA, GDP), inward-migration and quality of life, and low levels of deprivation. Regions perceived as success tend to be self-sustaining as more people and investment are drawn to opportunities created, both from inside the country and from other places.
NEGATIVE EXTERNALATIES
a) Success may lead to negative externalities:
- Overheated property prices.
- Congestion of roads and public transport.
- Skill shortages (insufficiently trained workers to do quaternary and quinary jobs for the new growing economy).
What is Myrdal’s Cumulative Causation Model?
MYRDAL’S CUMULATIVE CAUSATION MODEL
- A model in which one form of institution will lead to successive changes in other institutions.
- In terms of regeneration, investment brings industries linked to infrastructure producing larger pools of labour, increases in local services, population rising and so does spending which leads to further successive changes.
Why is Berkshire a Successful Region?
STRENGTHS
- Well connected -
a) The M4 motorway runs through the county of Berkshire from East to West.
b) Influenced by Heathrow airport in Hounslow.
c) M25 in the East gives access to the whole of London and immediate Home Counties.
d) Close to the South coast, movement of goods via the channel.
e) Rail links to London to Paddington (Great Western Railway) and Waterloo (South-Western Railway). - Population -
a) The population grew by 6.4% between 2001 and 2011 (16.3% in Slough - the fastest growing town in SE England) through inward migration (internally and internationally).
b) The population is very well educated/well qualified, almost half of all Berkshire workers are employed in knowledge-based, managerial and professional occupations.
c) Low levels of Multiple Deprivation - West Berkshire district ranks 291 out of 326 local authorities areas (making it the 35th least deprived district in England).
d) Good schools are found in the local area, meaning that there is a well-educated workforce. - Wealth -
a) The wealth of the residents helps to support the rural economy through things such as farm shops with the economy being boosted by tourists.
b) Demand for living space has meant that Berkshire is home to some of the most expensive villages in the UK.
c) Some that have historical/royal connections (Bucklebury is home of the Middleton family), or setting for TV dramas such as Midsummer Murders.
d) National Trust properties bring in tourists into the area as well as Ascot racecourse and horse race industry. - Employment -
a) High rates of employment in the principal towns such as Reading, Slough and Bracknell which are attracting young professionals.
b) M4 Corridor is England’s Silicon Valley is home to major ICT companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Citrix Systems and Dell.
c) Slough trading estate (UK’s largest industrial park) hosts the headquarters of TNC’s.
d) Companies are co-locating/relocating due to the variety of business there as it acts as a talent magnet, drawing in people, who specialise in that sector, to work there.
e) In 2011 alone they recruited between 7,000 and 11,000 workers from outside the EU.
WEAKNESSES
- Challenges -
a) Property prices are a concern with prices rising 40-50% in the years 2005-2015 (Zoopla).
b) In September 2015m prices for a six bedroom properties were in excess of £2 million.
c) Property prices are out of reach for 20% of the working-age population (LEP).
d) Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership had only 0.4% of its neighbourhoods in the most deprived 10% of national areas according to the 2015 index of Multiple Deprivation.
e) Aldermaston village both have increasingly elderly populations for whom the cost of fuel for cars is too high, however, the populations are too small to commercially justify a bus service.
f) Skill shortage = Will need an additional 70,000 well-qualified workers by 2020.
g) Over-reliance on key industries (such as ICT in Reading).
What is economic restructuring?
ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING
- Economic restructuring refers to the phenomenon of Western urban areas shifting from a manufacturing to a service sector economic base.
What is the Rust Belt?
RUST BELT
- Term created in the 1980s, The concentration of problems associated with the loss of core employment and large scale de-industrialisation of the once-powerful manufacturing areas that fell into economic restructuring/decline following automation and global shift and free trade.
- The area is characterised by derelict buildings and mass unemployment.
- It is located in the N.E USA stretching from Michigan to New York. Cities include Detroit (Home to automobile manufacturing - Ford) and Pittsburg.
Why did the Rust Belt decline?
RUST BELT DECLINE
- Overseas competition as companies (China) produced cheaper coal and steel, so outsourcing costs were cheaper.
a) Automation - lack of need for manual workers, so the industry moved to Mexico. - Mining companies have mechanised to cut costs (resulting in job losses and mass unemployment in these areas, prompting decline.
a) Unemployment was 14.6% in June 2009 in Michigan. - Lower wage costs in the South-Eastern USA have led to the relocation of steel and car industries.
a) 80,000 jobs were lost in car manufacturing in Michigan during the period 1993-2008.
b) 90,000 jobs were gained in states such as Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Texas. - Current US Coal industry only survives because of government subsidies that keep prices low - costing US$2.9 Billion in 2014-2015.
a) Without subsidies, companies cannot compete globally and would be forced to close - creating a negative multiplier.
b) Michigan voted for Trump - attracted to promise of economic improvement.
- High-income jobs in the primary and secondary sectors have been replaced with low-wage tertiary jobs in retail and local government.
- Recent gentrification.
- In 2015, 30 restaurants opened.
- The highest concentration of designers in the US.
What are the impacts of industrial URBAN decline in the Rust Belt?
DETROIT
- Population decline
a) Brain drain as many qualified individuals look for alternative high-paying jobs.
b) ‘White Flight’ (The phenomenon of white people moving out of urban areas, particularly those with significant minority populations, and into suburban areas) as the mass movement of communities in search of a better quality of life.
c) Anti-social behaviour grew as gangs began to form in the Detroit areas, growing out of the poverty and deprivation found there.
- Race riots in 1943 and 1967 - causing social/racial tensions.
d) From 1950 (1.85 million) to 2010 (0.7 million) = 1.14 million moved out. - Urban Decay
a) As a result of the decrease in population.
b) As well as an increase in unemployment, crime and poverty levels.
c) The area was left flooded with brownfield sites which stopped any new investment, as it deterred businesses from moving there. - Lack of investment to escape the further decline
a) Local businesses shut down due to reduced footfall from automotive workers, and the lack of disposable incomes.
b) Reduced revenue for councils as consumer spending falls (The USA has a local sale tax paid at the till), but also increased spending commitments has caused by those claiming welfare.
c) Intergenerational inequality being passed, unless social intervention in the form such as education or regeneration.
What are the impacts of industrial RURAL decline in the Rust Belt?
BEATTYVILLE
- ‘Coal county’ in Beattyville, Kentucky (through the Appalachian Mountains.
a) Industry’s decline has caused many social problems, its population of 1270 lived in mainly trailer homes or log cabins.
b) Built a reputation for poverty and crime. - Median annual household income was $12,000 (£8,000), whereas the national median was $54,000 (£27,000)
a) Over 50% of its families lived below the poverty line.
b) 33% of teenagers left high school without graduating, only 5% had college degrees.
c) Homelessness forced families to live together with three or more generations under one roof. - Drug crime was rife, based on re-selling prescription drugs/opioid painkillers.
a) In 2013, drug overdoses accounted for 56% of all accidental deaths in Kentucky.
b) Men’s life expectancy was 8 years below the US average at 68.3 years. - Struggling rural location as the ageing population can’t cope with the out-migration of young people.
What is a negative multiplier?
NEGATIVE MULTIPLIER (CYCLE OF DECLINE) - A downward spiral or cycle, where economic conditions produce less spending and less incentive for business to invest (therefore, reducing opportunities).
- A business or industry shuts down in an area.
- Many people leave in search of work due to mass unemployment, decreasing the population.
- Local businesses see a decline due to reduced revenue and the local government sees a decline in tax revenue, closing shops and services.
- The reduced wealth in an area leads to less investment in an area as well as its public services (Education and Health) which decreases the overall quality of life in the area.
- The area sees urban and environmental decay, as well as crime and vandalism, increasing.
What is the difference between a Reinventor and Replicator City?
REINVENTOR CITIES
- They have changed their economic base successfully by encouraging IT and digital media, with having higher wages, graduate workers, new businesses and productivity.
REPLICATOR CITIES
- Have replaced cotton mills with call centres and dockyards with distribution centres and are less sustainable. They tend to have a higher share of workers with low qualifications and a working-age population claiming benefits.
What is the North-South and Urban divide?
NORTH-SOUTH AND URBAN DIVIDE
- May widen over the next few years because of the reversal by governments of decades of subsidies and support for struggling areas. The safety blanket of many local government employees and high welfare payments is over in our ‘austerity era’.
What factors create different priorities for regeneration?
PRIORITIES FOR REGENERATION
- Economic and social inequalities create differing priorities for regeneration (poverty and deprived area need to be tackled).
- The most successful schemes begin with an assessment of the problems, and then use that information to create a vision for the future followed by an action plan.
- It is the responsibility of local and national governments to decide where financial resources should be spent in order to reduce the level of economic and social inequality.
- As conditions decline those who are more financially able are more likely to move.
Two extremes of social segregation and residential sorting:
Social Segregation/Residential Sorting - When groups are segregated into groups on the basis of their social class type or occupation and ethnicity. They prefer to live close to those with the same status. Low-income households tend to seek out communities that provide lower cost housing and have higher social welfare spending High-income groups similarly cluster together and, if they move into a previously lower income location, may gentrify it
What is social segregation and residential sorting?
SOCIAL SEGREGATION AND RESIDENTIAL SORTING - When groups are segregated into groups on the basis of their social class type or occupation and ethnicity. They prefer to live close to those with the same status.
Two extremes of social segregation and residential sorting:
- Low-income households tend to seek out communities that provide lower-cost housing and have higher social welfare spending.
- High-income groups similarly cluster together and, if they move into a previously lower-income location, may gentrify it.
What are the 4 types of social segregation and residential sorting?
4 TYPES OF SOCIAL SEGREGATION AND RESIDENTIAL SORTING
- Gated Communities
a) Found in urban or rural settlements as either individual buildings or groups of houses. They are landscapes of surveillance, with CCTV and often 24/7 security guards.
- They are often neighbourhoods separating affluent residents from deprived areas with gates to improve safety and also to deter access by unknown people and reduce crime.
b) Trends stems from the 1980s in the USA where architects and planners created a fortress-type architecture in regenerated inner-city locations.
c) Replicated in Surrey and London Docklands following regeneration.
- Yet, where gentrification occurs, gated communities may be built to segregate the incomers from locals who are perceived to pose a threat. - Commuter Villages
a) Settlements that have a proportion of their population living in them but who commute out daily or weekly, usually to larger settlements either nearby or further afield.
b) In 2011, 19.8 million people live in Rural Areas in England with 98% in accessible rural places.
- Many commuters attracted to ‘best’ prime location and ‘wealth corridors’ (Sevenoaks, Kent) which have developed links through high-speed railways and motorways.
- Regeneration focuses on ‘affordable housing’ and boosting service provisions.
c) Itchen Valley, Winchester.
- It is a commuter hotspot due to its proximity to the M3, A31 and efficient mainline rail services (South-Western Railway) into London.
- 1,900 residents
- The area has seen an influx of young families, which has breathed new life into the local schools and 4 local pubs.
- The average house prices have been driven up to £588,882. - Sink Estate
a) Housing estates characterised by high levels of economic and social deprivation and crime, especially domestic violence, drugs and gang warfare.
b) Originates from 30 years of government policy that has resulted in segregating low-income groups needing social assistance from the rest of society. Ironically, many council housing estates were built to improve living conditions for poorer residents.
c) Hartlepool, Middlesbrough.
- Has struggled since the 1980s due to deindustrialisation and has seen 20,000 people leave since 1990.
- Deindustrialised since the 1980s, 20,00 left since 1990.
- 2008 global recession worsened the decline.
- 2015 closure of SSI Steelworks in Redcar aggravated the decline.
- Small scale local businesses have closed following chain stores shutting due to a decline in the number of customers.
- The local Unemployment rate is almost twice the national UK average.
- There are high levels of anti-social behaviour and a lack of opportunities.
- ⅓ (33%) of children attend a school that requires improvement and a high amount suffer from mental health problems.
- Low life expectancy and lowered house prices (£57,000 in 2015).
- 10% of Middleborough wards are in the bottom 1% of deprived areas in England. - Declining rural settlements
a) A struggling rural location as the ageing population can’t cope with the out-migration of young people, leading to the breakdown of the community as businesses can no longer function.
- This creates a reputation for poverty and crime which deters people from locating there.
b) Llansilin, Powys, Wales
- The village is home to under 700 people
In the 50% least deprived in Wales (community, safety, housing, health…).
- Average house price was £230,000 in 2015.
- 46.8% of those in rural Wales is within the 10% of with the least access to services in the UK (GP surgery, pharmacy, schools, post offices, banks, libraries…
- Cars are an essential element of life