Essay
A-Level Geography Changing places essay
- Module
- Changing Places (AQA)
- Institution
- AQA
A-Level Geography AQA changing places essay based off of practice paper questions from paper 2. A-grade student essay.
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Evaluate the role of one or more external forces in changing lived experiences of a local ordistant place you have studied. (20 marks)
In 2012, as a result of winning the Olympic bid Stratford was nominated to host the next
Olympic games. This caused a series of exogenous forces to impose change in the area.
Since Stratford was perceived as a deprived area in London, the Mayor of London wanted to
use it as a location for the Olympics in order to drive urban regeneration through the
funding for the Olympics. The government had a large impact in imposing change within
Stratford through Government policies such as housing policies which resulted in 70% of the
carpenters estate residents being displace as they were moved into temporary or
alternative houses as the estate was gentrified into new high-rise flats or used as land for
the Olympic Village. This change significantly altered the lives of locals as they were forced
out of their homes and experienced a physical change in the character of Stratford as new
modern high-rise flats were introduced and along with it, new residents migrated inwards.
The Olympics also encouraged new tourist attractions that were not targeted to the local
public as prices were too high for the average salary within Stratford. The new tourist
attractions and the Olympics themselves also brought attention and tourism to Stratford,
increasing the number of businesses in the area, and changing Stratford demographically as
visitors become more frequent due to Governmental improvements and investment in the
area.
Additionally, this change had an economic knock-on effect as rent prices and the price of a
standard lifestyle rose by 60% in Stratford. This occurred as a result of the investment put
into Stratford through new infrastructure such as improved and expanded railway lines,
public transport, schools, housing, and Westfield Shopping Centre. This on the other hand
also brought in new jobs as through the development of Westfield Shopping Centre, TNCs
such as John Lewis moved into the area. The negative effect of this, however, was that locals
did not receive employment and most of the jobs were given to outsiders. Furthermore, the
introduction of Westfield put stress on the Highstreet as most people began to shop at
Westfield instead. This caused local Highstreet retailers to close and as a result further job
losses and unemployment occurred.
Another change that occurred due to external forces in Stratford was an environmental
change due to the Government investing into greener areas and environmental clean up
projects. For example, 400,000 new plants were planted to create small forest areas open to
the public in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions within Stratford. This project became
the largest re-planting project in London and as successful in creating many small forest
areas along the greenway footpath and cycle rout. Additionally, 30,000 tonnes worth of
debris was removed from the river to improve water quality and introduce wetlands for bird
species, this also included the removal of fridge mountain to try and improve the
appearance and tidiness of the area around the new wetlands too.
In conclusion, Stratford has been a subject of change brought about by external forces
which has altered it’s character, appearance and people’s experiences and perceptions of
Stratford.
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