Changing places

Nature an importance of places

Place = a space with meaning

Place making = deliberate shaping of an environment to facilitate social interaction and improve communities quality of life

3 theoretical approaches to place:

  • descriptive = idea that world is a set of places and each place can be studied and is distinct

  • social constructionist = a place is a product of a particular set of social processes occurring at a particular time

  • phenomenological = how an individual person experiences a place, recognizing highly personal relationship between people and place

  • CS: TRAFALGA SQUARE

Concepts of place:

  • location = where a place is physically

  • locale = place where something happens or is set or has particular events associated with it, shaped by people, culture and customs

  • sense of place = subjective and emotional attachment to a place - different peoples can be different

  • GLASTONBURY

Belonging = to be part of a community e.g. age, gender, ethnicity etc.

  • positionality = factors which influence how we perceive different places

  • e.g. transition town movements - improves sense of belonging and wellbeing as communities come together to share skills, grow food, provide care for dependents and fight inequality

Identity = localism, regionalism, nationalism

  • TOTNES: introduced local currency (totnes pound) - encourages people to shop locally and keep money in local economy - keeps local identity

  • BIMBYism (beauty in my backyard) - communities can influence new developments and have a say in what they want/don’t want

Well being =

Globalisation = process by which world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of increased trade and cultural exchange

Glocalisation = MNCs adapting to local market peace e.g. McDonalds removing pork in Muslim countries

Placenessness = indistinguishable from other places in appearance/character

homogenised = identical places as a global capitalism has eroded local cultures

clone town = urban retail areas dominated by national chain stores

  • Totnes costa protests

Localisation =

Insider perspective = been to the place and recalling memories/feelings

Outsider perspective = visit place briefly or only seen through media - haven’t developed own perception

Near and far places - geographically or emotionally

  • some places feel more familiar than others partly due to personal experience but also because of frequent representational exposure

Experienced and media places - experienced = spent time in, media = only seen/read/TV/news

  • reality different to media e.g. countryside been idyllised and countryside living stereotyped as involving happy, healthy and close knit community vs negative stereotypes of cities

Endogenous = factors that are caused from within the area (internally) e.g. land relief, ethnicity, proximity to river

Exogenous = factors that have an external cause - often shown by flows of different things across space (people, resources, money) e.g. distance from capital, migration rates, flows of money (investment into area), flow of ideas

Relationships and connections

Places are dynamic (change over time) - coming together of people, ideas, wealth and information

Economic fall and rise of Britain industrial cities has impact on population and environment e.g. Sheffield

Economic factors have biggest impact on place

Other factors of change:

  • migration and conflict (e.g. Syria)

  • terrorism (9/11)

  • natural disasters (New Orleans)

  • climate change (Maldives)

  • industrial accidents (Chernobyll)

Agents of change = people who impact upon a place whether through living, working or trying to improve place

  • government policies: attract businesses to places and stimulate positive multiplier effect (e.g. regeneration schemes)

  • decisions of multinational corporations: job losses for employees, factories converted into housing (2010 - Cadbury factory closed near Bristol and moved to Poland)

  • impact of global institutions/organisations: post earthquake reconstruction of homes and communities (2015 - World bank running 15 redevelopment projects in Haiti)

Conflict may arise because people resist changes forced upon their place

e.g. Totnes - costa protests

Continuity and change

palimpsest = something that has been reused/altered but still bears visible traces of its earlier form

Charles Booth - poverty maps used for investigating social and economic conditions of residents who lived there e.g. Deptford street

Agents of change or continuity: people, resources, money

CS:

BOURNEVILLE, BIRMINGHAM (example of continuity)

  • local example of long term continuity due to people (Cadbury’s)

  • built as a garden village in 19th century based off beliefs and ideals of Cadbury’s

  • exclusively inhabited by employees - no longer exclusive but community feel and physical appearance reamined the saem (green space, little crime)

  • Birmingham grows around Bourneville but it stays the same due to strict planning controls

DEVONPORT, PLYMOUTH

  • local example of change in long term due to money and investment

  • big change over time - due to external (exogenous) factors

  • used to be naval dockyard (+economic, +social) but 3m wall split commuin 2, displaced residents and decreased navy jobs (-)

  • 2001-11 - new deal for communities provided funding = physical environment changed considerably (education, healthcare, jobs)

  • regeneration attracted larger range of people

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA

  • national example of long term change due to resources, money and investment

  • associated with drugs/violence but now a model of sustainable city planning and urban regeneration through long term invest

  • e.g. cable car to slums (=jobs, healthcare, education = increased quality of life and decreased poverty)

Meaning and representation

meaning = relates to individual or collective perceptions of place , changes over time

representation = how a place is portrayed in society, changes over time

BELFAST REPRESENTED OVER TIME:

  • the troubles:

    • 30 year period in 1968 of conflict and instability

    • unionists (protestants) wanted to be in UK, nationalists (Catholics) wanted to be in Ireland

    • period of violence ‘bombs, bullets and balaclavas’

    • good Friday peace agreement ended troubles in 1998

    • peace walls were constructed to keep communities apart, murals done to reinforce messages

    • represented through media and murals

  • after re-development

    • Titanic quarter - one of the largest brownfield redevelopment sites in Europe - includes titanic studios and 100+ companies (Microsoft)

    • cosmopolitan city

    • positive media and advertising - city council, tourist board

    • creative and cultural, open and welcoming

    • Game of Thrones TV set built and filmed there

    • £450 million from tourism annually - 6.5 million visitors

    • International image = positive, tourism, business

sense of place = meaning attributed to a place as influenced by our interactions with it - experiencing a place creates experiences and memories that develop sense of place

place memory = refers to ability of place to make past come to life in present through material artifacts, preservation buildings, monuments, museums etc.

perceptions of place = developed through what people have heard, seen or read about a place

Agents of change that can manage perceptions of place:

  • national and local government (=place marketing = rebranding, reimaging, regeneration)

  • corporate bodies

  • tourist organisations

  • community groups

reimaging

  • disassociates place from bad pre-existing images in relation to poor housing, high levels of crime, environmental pollution and industrial dereliction

  • used to attract new investment, retailing, tourists and residents

  • CS: LIVERPOOL 1980/90s

    • deindustrialisation caused economic downturn in city and riots in 1981 dominated newspaper headlines

    • large scale regeneration:

      • Tate Liverpool art gallery - aimed at re-imaging city’s industrial heritage through culture

      • Merseyside Development corporation “there’s life in the old docks yet”

      • warehouses in Albert Docks - interiors transformed into galleries

      • Liverpool won European Capital of culture 2008

rebranding

  • way in which a place is re-developed and marketed so that it gains a new identity

  • used to attract new investment, retailing, tourists and residents

  • involves reimaging and regeneration

  • CS: AMSTERDAM

    • in late 20th century amsterdams reputation as a major international cultural centre threatened by greater competition (from within and outside netherlands), social and economic decline in some areas, reputation for being liberal towards soft drugs and prositution - inappropriate for attracting new investors and enterprices, failed bid to host olympics

    • rebranding slogan = ‘I AMSTERDAM’ - 3D letters of this in front of Rijks museum 2005 - most photographed item - over 8000 times every day in summer

    • Amsterdam now has increased tourism, top 5 European cities based on its brand strength and cultural assets

    • however, pre-existing residents want to protect and project local distinctiveness while development agencies seek to establish place brands based on government incentives, available tech and international links of area. Some rebranding schemes driven out locals (rising property prices and rents favoured affluent people)

  • CS: MANCHESTER

    • cottonopolis (growth during industrial revoluton for cotton manufacturing - however competition from abroad = deindustrialisation = collapse of cotton industry = rundown properties and high unemployment)

    • madchester (1980s - centre of music and creativity - many bands e.g. the Smiths. 80s rave scene. Uni’s doubled in size = student economy = financial boost)

    • gunchester (late 1980s nighttime culture earned more negative reputation - gang violence, stabbings, shootings. Media picked up on crime reports)

    • gaychester (students stayed in area and went into jobs like management, computing etc. - manchester science park = increased population = more housing demand = old houses gentrified. Developers saw this trend and converted derelict ware houses in inner city areas which became a focus for gay clubbing scene

    • Salford quays = previous site of Manchester docks - one of largest urban regeneration projects in the UK - 2007 = BBC moved several departments here, ITV followed etc. - rebranded as MediaCityUK - created 10000 jobs and added £1 billion to regional economy over 5 years

    • successes:

      • student pop of 40000 (gives median age of 29)

      • manchester population increased by 20%

      • predicted to exceed UKs average rate of economic growth for next 10 years

      • 40% residents educated to degree level

      • families in poverty went down by 25%

    • failures:

      • Collyhurst - home to 7000 people and highest unemployment in city - one of most deprived areas of whole countries, locals being pushed out

      • Lalley Centre seen demand for foodbanks doubled in 2 years

      • collyhurst yet to benefit from successes in any part of manchester

regeneration

  • long term process involving redevelopment and use of social, economic and environmental action to reverse urban decline and create sustainable communities

Quantitative and Qualitative skills

Advantages of qualitative data:

  • easier to collect data - more widely available

  • can provide explanation rather than just trends

  • provides insight into lived experience of people and their opinions on people and place

Disadvantages of qualitative data:

  • opportunites for analysis are limited largely to coding of data (time consuming)

  • subjective = accuracy reduced

  • data collection process more time consuming

  • difficult to present data

  • accuracy and quality of data dependent on the skill of researcher - takes skill to not exert bias on results

Case studies

LOCAL PLACE STUDY: FULFORD

CONTRASTING PLACE STUDY: BRICK LANE

  • London borough in Tower Hamlets

  • Heart of Bangladeshi-Sylheti community and known as Banglatown

  • high proportion in 20-40 year old brakcet

  • 41% of residents on bricklane from bangladeshi origin - higher than borough average

  • Muslim makes us 41.5% of religion

  • rich ethnic and religious mix

  • IMD 2010 = in most deprived decile

  • influx of TNCs into Brick Lane area e.g. KFC and Nandos - changing character as more globalised = placelessness

  • conflict with locals as rent increase dramatically - doubled in 20 years

  • Gentrification = evidence for changing socio-economic characteristics = locals outpriced. But environment improved and art and rich culture