Geography Diverse places

UK pop. has grown unevenly in the last 50 years, what areas have grown the fastest and why?

London (global hub) + the South-East: job opportunities & services; in England with 420ppl/km2- most habitable

Eden project economic benefits

• Support local business: 2500 local suppliers → upward cumulative causation

• e.g. Poppy Treffye

• Increased profit → increased local spending + taxes

• Added more than £1bn into Cornish economy

• Directly created 450 jobs

Eden project social benefits

• Employ + train locals → encourage higher education → higher skilled & paid jobs

• Directly created 450 jobs

Parties in Eden project & how they measure success

• Parish council: employment, representation, less large scale development → success

• Stakeholders: profit → success

• Locals: employment, inclusion, less pollution → success

Eden project

Greenhouse garden project in Cornwall

• opened in 2001

• bottom-up dev.: work with locals + local benefits

London Docklands: Issues

• poor transport links: 1 irregular bus line, no trains

• poverty

• social exclusion: walled off, but strong sense of community

• for every job lost, 5-10 more lost

London Docklands: gvt aim

• water city - like Venice

• perceive: “wasteland” “monument to failure”

• top down plan, excluding locals

London Docklands renovation

• 16mn square feet of office & retail space

• 105 000 people working in Canary Wharf

• European HQ for banks e.g. J.P. Morgan

• House prices remained relatively affordable, but not for families

• DLR: railway built for Canary Wharf → limited in evenings & weekends → built for workers

Renovation London Docklands for locals

• Remains isolated from central London

• Improved quality of life

• New gentrified services

• Mismatch of skills → locals excluded from employment

• Lower income residents pushed out

• However, old jobs were dangerous → now: safer & better paid

• Loss of community

London Docklands conclusion

• method was poor: exclusion of locals

• long term benefits: significant

• necessary to counter inevitable decline & deterioration of docklands

Rural idyll

Idealised image of a rural are: dreamlike, calm, relaxing beautiful

• Rising cost of living: unattainable for lower socioeconomic status - West Cornwall: food banks, top 10% poorest in EU

• High socioeconomic status: attainable - West Cornwall: 80% 2nd homes in some areas, Roseland Park retirement home: Tregony

• International migration low income: negatively affect rural idyll for host & migrants: Boston, Linconshire → exploited, highest Brexit voting, loss of culture

• Lack of services: West Cornwall: lack of healthcare, educational opportunities, & transport

Not determined by location, but the situation of the residents

Gentrification

Taking and transitioning areas that often had working class function into middle class functions. Oriented to young people & DINKY’s

• UK social housing sales

• Molenbeek

• London Docklands

Belgium demographics

• High life expectancy

• Roughly equal proportion of women and men until around 65

• 3 languages: quite divided

Brussels demographics

• Large proportion of working age people and young children

• 40% have foreign nationalities

• Majority European immigrants

Brussels demographics explained

• Language: large French diaspora

• Free movement within EU

• Colonial legacy: Congo & Morocco (France)

Diaspora distribution

• EU-15: in wealthier areas - South, under CBD

• North African: western quarter of inner city

• Turkish: NW of CBD in inner city

Social clustering: issues

• Lack of communication between cultural groups

• Perceived discrimination

→ tension

Tervuren demographics

• 20 000 people

• 25% foreign born

• 80% of foreign born are EU28

• High socioeconomic status

• Peaks in pop. of children and 30-50 yr olds

• BSB: English speaking diaspora

Molenbeek demographics

• 100 000 people

• 30% foreign born

• One of the poorest areas in Brussels

• Around 50% youth unemployment

Molenbeek perceptions

• Dangerous: “breeding ground for terrorists”

• Originally: industry → cheap housing + labour attracted migrants - industry left → struggle to adapt

• Ethno-stratification: segregated into/ experience different socioeconomic status → African immigrants: nearly 90% unemployment rate, when 65% have degrees → Young people perceive this as racial discrimination

Tervuren perceptions

• Green, beautiful

• Safe

• Attractive for high socioeconomic status international migrants

Social clustering Tervuren

Political factors

Policy surrounding migration is controversial, and is highly dependent on the elected party.

• Immigrants only represented with vote at a local scale

There is a growing right-wing nationalist movement in Tervuren & Belgium generally partially because of increased immigration.

• Central parties in coalition power now

• Strong campaigning from Vlaams-Belang

• N-VA was most voted → increased mistrust

Pre-existing political systems and disputes within Belgium lead to rising tensions.

• Hostility toward French language from Dutch-speaking residents

• French encouraged to speak Dutch at commune: not allowed to use international desk

Formation of diasporas

• 3 local, Dutch-speaking secondary schools

• BSB

• French speakers often commute to Brussels

• Due to language barrier: limited mixing between BSB and local schools, and social clustering within local schools→ Dutch & French speakers

• Religion: no mosques or synagogues: all in Brussels, but 10 different Christian churches

Victorian London: Perceptions

• Dirty: “Vile”, smelly

• Poverty tourism: judgement or to help → disempowering

Contrasting views:

• Undeserving poor: criminals, healthy adults, ‘lack of morals’ → ‘deserve punisment’

• Deserving poor: orphans, disables → should be helped

Victorian London: reality

• Poverty

• Hunger

• Lack of sanitation

Solution: Workhouse

→ 1834 New Poor Laws

• Intentionally bad conditions → encourage people to avoid it

• Dangerous jobs

• Very low pay

• Did not solve poverty

London today: perceptions

• Busy

• Dangerous

• High cost of living

• Good services

• Job & educational opportunities

• Modern

• Economic hub

• Still deserving vs. undeserving poor mentality → people are claiming disability when not needed

London today: reality

• Poor environmental quality

• High crime rates

• High cost of living

• Ethnic diversity

2025 Spring Budget:

• Stricter tests for disability payment

• People under 22 cannot get incapacity benefits

• Limited improvements for other disabled people unlike promised

→ harsher conditions: encourage them to work harder to get jobs

Future of funding in Cornwall

Post Brexit:

• £130mn for 3 years from Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) → before Brexit: £100mn per year: less than half

• Starting 2024

• Funding is essential: recognised as one of the poorest regions in EU

• Boris Johnson promised levels of funding would remain at least the same → may create tensions

• Loss of funding for projects e.g. Falmouth campus: continue cycle of poverty

Falmouth campus

• Opened in 2013

• Financed by EU and UK funds, e.g. EU cohesion policy

• Student population of around 6,000

• Many facilities, e.g. £30mn research centre

Falmouth campus: aims

Tackle issues such as:

• Lack of accessibility to HE opportunities → students need to travel outside of Cornwall

• Limited high-skilled job opportunities → downward cumulative causation

• Lack of economic input