EQ2: how do different people view diverse living places?
Perceptions of urban places.
Victorian London
- Perceived as dangerous and threatening, a place to avoid.
- Viewed by middle and upper classes . They didn’t have to work in factories and
mills.
- This perception was caused by:
o Pollution from factories during the industrial revolution, blackened
building walls.
o Poverty the working class lived in inner city slum housing, with minimal
sewerage and sanitary facilities.
Inner city areas: surround the CBD of a city. In the UK its dominated by buildings dating back
to the industrial revolution especially terraced housing which is high density with little
greenspace.
o Congestion many Victorian cities had worse traffic congestion than the
same cities today.
- The perception of crime (pickpocketing, petty theft, and prostitution). Charles
Dickens Oliver Twist played on this perception.
- The wealthier people reacted to this by:
o Moving out to the suburbs, away from the inner city.
o Planning new ‘model’ cities like the garden cities of Welwyn and Letchworth.
Suburbs: low density, low rise housing surrounding cities but attached to them so people
could commute to work. Suburban houses typically have gardens.
The very same cities are now perceived as attractive places because of the range of
economic opportunities and the variety of social and leisure activities found there.
Southwark, London.
- Borough market attracts food lovers form all over the city.
- The area around the Tate Modern Art gallery, opened in 2000 has become a
trendy place to live.
- The South Bank area around the OXO tower, the National theatre has become a
trendy area to eat and drink.
- Job opportunities around the nearby City of London and Westminster.
This is why Southwark attracts so many young workers, internal and international migrants.
Not all places are perceived in a positive way by all groups. Some urban places have a
‘reputation’ which is often based on negative images form the past than the reality of today.
Liverpool:
- Riots were widely reported on TV un 1981 and 1985.
- 1982 TVs series boys from the blackstuff portrayed the impact of deindustrialisation
and unemployment on 5 men in the city.
- 1980s and the 1990s the city had a bad reputation for gang crime linked to drugs and
firearms.