Topic 4 – Regenerating places
How and why do places vary?
Economic activity and employment:
Types of employment:
Deindustralisation has altered the types of employment that are available.
- With an increasing focus on the tertiary sector, the ability to be flexible and respond
to global market changes makes employing people on a temporary basis increasingly
desirable.
- Businesses are starting to avoid employing workers on permanent contracts.
o e.g. Zero-hour contracts - A zero hours contract is a contract between an
employer and an individual whereby the worker has no
guaranteed hours and is only paid for the work they carry out.
Employment and social factors:
There are tremendous inequalities in the levels of pay and type of work.
- Unemployment has a clear impact on health, life expectancy and education.
, - Social deprivation does not always have to mean that businesses struggle.
Inequalities in pay levels
There are several differences in rates of pay across the UK:
The highest median earnings in 2011 were found in south-west London. (with London being
the most prosperous region)
Older industrial cities, still suffering from deindustralisation, tend to have lower average pay
than elsewhere.
- Inequality of pay correlated with both distribution of jobs in different economic
sectors and quality of life across the country.
Bankers and doctors (tertiary / quaternary / quinary sector) are the highest earners.
While those working on construction and public sector jobs (primary / secondary
sectors) earn the least.
o Also, the fastest-growing rate of pay was for workers working on high earned
jobs, while pay growth for low earners was much slower (if not negative).
How places change over time:
Over time, the places where people choose to live change as the inhabitants reshape and
reconfigure them to meet their shifting needs and priorities.
The function, shape, land-use pattern and details of the surrounding social, economic and
natural environments are determined by the types of people that live there and the many
different influences in their lives.
1) Many rural areas are sites of intensive food production and they sustain the lives of
people in urban areas as well as rural environments. (goods produced in rural areas are
taken to market towns and cities).
2) In the mid-1800s mechanisation reduced the need for manual labour in fields, so
workers moved into the industrial towns and cities.
a. These workers provided cheap labour for factories producing commodities.
3) The emerging middle class needed ways to organise day-to-day life, and county towns
began to host key administrative functions, such as various commercial enterprises.
a. Some of these functions have been replaced in today’s post-industrial economy,
as goods are now transported from all over the world and distributed around the
country.
Alongside these functional changes, there have been demographic changes in both - ethnic
composition and age structure.
The UK has struggled with racism and prejudice, areas of some towns associated with ethnic
minority communities saw collapsing prices and spirals of decline.
The heritage and cultural history of a place may be of particular significance for its residents.
- This results in unique places whose identity is interwoven into what becomes a vital
part of success in places, as they attempt to rebrand, re-image and regenerate.
Why do places vary?
Five major factors have shaped how places have changed in the UK:
, 1. Physical factors
Dynamic changing landscapes present management challenges. Increasing the
concern about climate change, which is starting to shape policy, architecture and
land-use decisions.
2. Accessibility and connectedness
The development of the UK’s motorway and rail networks has changed the
importance of different towns and villages around the UK.
Improved transport infrastructure has been a steady flow of migration both within
and into the UK. The growth of regional airports has facilitated immigration.
Reinforcing ‘bridgeheader’ communities.
3. Historical development
Some places have changed slowly over time, and their current layout and
characteristics still reflects their history.
4. Local and national planning
The UK government has struggled for some time to tackle a chronic shortage of
housing stock.
Leading to the over expansion of urban areas threatening rural areas as they may be
overrun. This has led to increasing house prices and congestion within rural areas
near cities (as they become more desirable and accessible places to live.
5. Other factors
Globalisation, with its developments in transport technology and communications
infrastructure, has made it more cost-effective for manufacturing companies to
transfer operations to other parts of the world, particularly Asia. The closure of
factories in the UK, or deindustralisation, has triggered major changed in towns and
cities. Equally, migration into the UK has changed the character of some towns and
cities.
How can we measure these changes?
The consequences of these changes for local residents and employers can be explored, by
levelling the stages of economic development, their employment and structure and
demographic characteristics. Associating the impacts of how land is used and managed, and
how the culture is managed.
How past and present connections shape places?
The economic and social characteristics of a place are shaped by past and present
connections to other places, both real and imagined.
, Regional and national influences
International and global influences
The UK’s connections, often developed during the time of the British Empire, have resulted
in increasing diversity in the UK.
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Eastern European workers in rural
areas as well.
This can put pressure on school places, and affect the attitudes of local students towards
diversity, particularly those with connections to unemployed people, where the perception
may be that their unemployment has resulted from increased competition.
