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A Level Geography NEA
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What impact has Adnams had on the gentrification of Southwold?Introduction:
Southwold is a small north Suffolk seaside town on the Suffolk Heritage Coast (Figures 1-3). Almost
an island, bound by the North Sea to the East, by the River Blyth and Southwold harbour to the
South–West and by Buss Creek to the North, there is just the one road in to and out of Southwold,
approached through neighbouring Reydon (Visit Suffolk, 2022). Southwold is a small town with a
population of only 1098 people with 1334 dwellings, this results in any change on the town affecting
most of the population. This traditional English town is seen as a place with an all-round good quality
which is why it is a popular tourist destination. In the heart of the town there is a range of different
houses, shops, parks and hotels with a major attraction being the Adnams brewery, which has clearly
impacted the town. Southwold is not very ethnically diverse with 98% of the population being white.
This statistic may be explained due to the town not being very attractive to first generation migrants
due to the high cost of living and lack of employment opportunities. A clear example of this high
cost of living is the average house price in Southwold being £844,931, this is far above the national
average of £292,000 (Rightmove.co.uk, 2022).
Figure 1 -Southwold on a National scale Figure 2: Southwold on a Regional Scale
Figure 3 – Southwold on a Local Scale (Digimap, 2023)
The main aim and question of this study is looking at the impact of Adnams and its various
businesses on gentrification in Southwold. Gentrification is the process involving affluent people
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,moving into an area, bringing wealth and businesses, resulting in a change to the demographics of
the area. Gentrification can often result in improved housing and can attract new businesses to an
area; however, it can often displace current inhabitants in the process (Tom Dyckoff, 2018). Planners
may allow developers to upgrade a places characteristic, both residential and retail to attract people
of a higher social status and income. It could be argued that Adnams has significantly increased the
gentrification in Southwold due to the business attracting a large amount of people and investment
from other companies. A good example of how Adnams has increased gentrification is the newly
developed holiday home area in the heart of Southwold which has been constructed and invested in
by the corporation, this will be further discussed in detail.
There are 3 main stages of gentrification, these are the early, transitional and late stages of
gentrification (Powerserve, 2019). These stages go through the low to high levels of gentrification
and what has caused it. Early gentrification is when people like writers, artists, musicians, political
activists and affluent students move into an area due to them being attracted to the neighbourhood
for its affordability. This early stage of gentrification then leads into the transitional stage of
gentrification which is when upper-middle class professionals such as teachers and journalists notice
the vibrancy created by the first people that moved into the area. This results in these people
moving into these areas which in turn leads to the area being more gentrified and wealthier, which
can result in local people not being able to afford to live in the area due to the cost and standard of
living being higher. The final stage of gentrification is where the impact of this gentrification is at is
fullest due to people even in the first two stages not being able to afford to live in the area.
As well as the stages, there are three different types of gentrification that could affect an area, these
are expansive, concentrated and limited.
Expansive- Expansive gentrification is when gentrification is easily spread across the
city, one area will continue to be gentrified and will eventually connect to another area
that is also going through gentrification making the whole area a gentrified region. This
type of gentrification is common in a city with a basic grid structure of streets and
buildings, these cities also consist of having small minority groups that can be wiped out
due to gentrification. Since its easier to move around in a city like this it means that
gentrification is easily spread.
Concentrated- Gentrification that starts to develop mainly in particular places is
referred to as concentration gentrification. White, wealthy residents predominate in
these neighbourhoods. From this point forward, the gentrification process expands and
spreads.
Limited- The best example of limited gentrification is a city that has a large suburban
structure that can limit gentrification, it can't spread as fast as other places because of
this. (gentrification (Jessica Cumberbatch Anderson, 2017)
The gentrification in Southwold is a clear example of rural gentrification. Rural gentrification is the
renovation of individual homes as well as the modernization of rural small towns and villages. In the
past, gentrification has been seen as mainly an urban problem, especially in relation to big cities
areas (Alisdair,2013). Some rural areas like Southwold experience the same gentrification processes
as urban areas, including increased investment, social upgrading of a community by new, higher-
income groups, and displacing local, lower-income groups. These rural areas typically have
developed into nondynamic cultural areas, and often are popular tourist or retirement destinations,
they can also commonly be home to significant higher-skilled employers like higher education
institutions.
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, Gentrification has both positive and negative impacts, this is because one side of society often
benefits but the other side often suffers. However, gentrification can also benefit all of society, for
example reduction in crime is a common result of gentrification. This is because more affluent and
wealthier people are present in an area which will reduce the crime rate because there is less
pressure to resort to crime. However, it could be argued that specific crimes may increase, such as
burglaries, as a result of wealthier people moving into the area. The services of an area are also
improved due to gentrification which can explain the lower crime rates, the more affluent people
moving into the area also reduces the strain on local infrastructure and services.
However, a common negative impact of increased gentrification in an area is homelessness or more
commonly, the push of local populations out of the area. This is because many people from the area
are typically on lower salaries (for example, farming and tourist-based jobs in rural areas) and so
can't afford the higher cost of living that results from more wealthy people investing into the area.
Property values also increase in value significantly as demand increases, this can be seen as both
positive and negative. The wealthier people that are moving in will see it as positive whereas the
people that were living there before will see it as negative as they may not be able to handle the
higher costs (Andrew Dyckhoff, 2018) This especially affects people that are renting for their
accommodation. The increase of property prices is the biggest impact on Southwold from the
gentrification that is present, one of the main causes of this rise is the increase of second home
ownership in Southwold. This increases the property prices as there are more people that are
interested in buying a holiday home in the town. For example, 22% of residences in Southwold are
holiday homes and 35% of residences are second homes, out of the 1,400 residences into the town
798 (57%) are either a holiday home or second home, this can often cause the town to be described
as a ‘ghost town in the winter’ (Andrew Levy, 2022). The higher demand of these properties in
Southwold will especially affect people that are renting inside the town as they may not be able to
afford the increased prices, which results in younger people leaving the town because the cost of
living is too high. Overall, sold prices inside Southwold are up 26% since 2019 to the average price of
£826,708, as mentioned earlier.
Gentrification in Southwold brings both positive and negative impacts to the town, however these
impacts that gentrification cause can also impacts major cities and towns even more. A recent article
stated that ‘Researchers have not reached a consensus as to whether gentrification has a net
positive or negative impact on the health of communities, largely due to variation in the literature
regarding both how gentrification is defined and the wide range of outcomes examined’ (Nrupen A,
Bhavsar, 2020). This shows that the topic of gentrification and its impacts is very complex and it is
hard to determine if gentrification is more negative or positive, this can be argued on both sides for
the gentrification that is present in Southwold.
The topic of gentrification is an important part of the development of an area and it is important to
study as it shows one of the biggest threats to a small town like Southwold. Gentrification is a clear
example of how wealthier people are able to afford the increases prices of the cost of living and how
less wealthy people can’t afford it so are often forced out of an area like Southwold. These people
also often have to the watch their town transform with limited to no control. As gentrification
develops inside a town like Southwold the culture and character of the town can slowly start to
change which can be a major issue to the original residents of the town.
Figure 4 shows a warning of the average increase in small business rates in Southwold which is at
177%. This means that these small businesses like the café that is shown in the figure below will
need to pay an increase tax rate to the government, these increased business rates can have a link
to the increased gentrification as more money is seen as going into the town. However this can be
deceiving, and small independent businesses can struggle significantly. The customers that are going
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