Dd101_Tma1

In light of what you have learned about City Road, describe some of the inequalities on a street which you know. For this assignment I have decided to examine some of the inequalities on the Shore Road in Whiteabbey, a road which is very familiar to me as I have grown up on or close to it for the past twenty four years . This stretch of road is similar to City Road in a number of ways. It provides many functions for the surrounding community such as the selling of products and services, the providing of entertainment, and the providing of a sense of community and identity. However it is also dissimilar to City Road as it is a much smaller road with a smaller catchment area, and much less variety of these products and services. I have identified a number of inequalities in this stretch of the Shore Road. Most of which are similar to that of City Road and many other roads across the world. For the purposes of this assignment however I will look at three of these in detail. Firstly, there has been a vast change in behaviours on this road over the past ten to fifteen years due to a lot of money being invested in the modernising and improving of the area during this time. As discussed in the Making Social Lives DVD, an area looking “run down” gives the impression of a “bad area” and crime tends to rise in accordance with this. Social disorders such as graffiti and litter, whilst not necessarily classified as “crimes” all contribute to this view and this then needs to be “managed and smoothed over.” (Ordered Lives, 2009, Scene 1) Over the past decade, gardens have been planted, roads and crossings improved, shops have been modernised, and many new services have moved to the road. Ten to fifteen years ago the local bar was run down and attracted a lot of trouble and crime. However, after being closed, refurbished and rebranded, it is now one of the main attractions to the area, boasting a high-class restaurant and bar, and an upmarket clientele. The road and surrounding area is now seen as an “attractive” place to live, new apartment blocks have sprung up, and it is much busier and lively than it was ten years ago. Secondly, just like City Road, there is a vast difference in activity on the road depending on the time of day. During rush hour the road is extremely busy, with traffic, shops opening up, parents walking children to school and so on. Throughout the day, workmen may be present, business men are having lunch in the restaurant, people are stopping in at the local shop or availing of the services of the hairdressers, opticians or the dentist. As night-time descends however different activities are observed. Shops and services are closed and the main attractions at this time are the bars and takeaways. The local bar changes from catering for business men to catering for young professionals or students with live music, poker nights, djs, themed nights and drinks offers. Whilst not on the scale of City Road, night time activities on this road tend to be the product of too much alcohol - noise and sometimes some social disorder such as fighting. However this rarely gets out of hand, most likely due to the view and expectations of the road being a “nice area,” as touched on in the previous paragraph, and due to the presence of bouncers, who are their to maintain this social order. Lastly, due again to the improvement and growth in the area, inequalities in residents “sense of community” have been produced. Whiteabbey has many families who have lived here for generations, and who know the area and other residents very well. They have a strong sense of community and this is reinforced by the local cafes, bars, community centre and school. However many new apartments and houses have sprung up over the past ten years and therefore many “new” residents now reside here. They would not have the same sense of community that the “original” residents would have and would make many comparisons between this road and the one from which they come from. Again like City Road, ethnic minorities have moved to the area with the opening up of the local Chinese and Indian restaurants. These people would have a much different attachment, identity and sense of community with the area, with the multiple influences of their past mixed with their new identity in a new country with new social rules and norms. The discussion above demonstrates the extent of the interconnection between our material and social lives, and how differences and inequalities in one area have a direct impact on the other.