Diffrences_and_Inequalities

Discuss some of the differences and inequalities that can be seen on streets in the UK. In this essay the differences that will be discussed will be the various uses of streets from morning until night, the diversity of people that use them, the range of activities that go on in the street at different times and how people’s perception of crime in the area is affected by this. The inequalities focused on will be those created by these differences listed above. In order to demonstrate these points this essay will be drawing on examples from City Road, Cardiff and Lower Uxbridge Road, London. Both roads date back over 200 years and have similar layouts, with shops and businesses situated either side of a relatively straight busy main road. The populations are predominately made up of working class people from many backgrounds, including immigrants, students and transience travellers. The businesses mainly consist of take away restaurants, small cafes and various other small establishments. Both have a number of public houses and social clubs, and are surrounded by various transport facilities. In addition Uxbridge road has a concert venue, Bush Hall. One of the main visual differences that can be seen on both streets is how the people, activities and use of amenities of the area change from early morning to late evening. On both roads during the day it is the local newsagents, cafes and cultural shops that have the most foot fall. People come to both areas to shop, socialise and to commute to and from work or school. This appears to create more of a community feel and sense of safety. This is evidenced in “Making Social Lives on City Road” DVD (2009, scene 3) where cafe owner Jose Ramos Suarez owner of “Taste Buds Café” on City Road is speaking to Lloyd Robson about the elderly customers stating, “they feel so secure in here”. A possible explanation for this could be the types of people using the streets at this time of day, the elderly, school children, parents with small children. These social groups are mainly seen as unthreatening and tend to abide by social rules. Under these circumstances people’s perception of crime seems to be increased. When this is compared to actual Home Office statistics and information from local police officer Bob Keohane on City Road (‘Making Social Lives on City Road’, 2009, scene 6) it would seem these perceptions are unsubstantiated. The Home Office states, “Despite the reduction in the total number of crimes since 1995, comparatively high proportions of people continue to believe crime has risen across the country as a whole and in their local area.” Also “Findings from the 2003/04 BCS (British Crime Survey) showed that two key factors associated with increased levels of worry about crime are believing that they are likely to become victims of crime in the coming year, and perceiving there to be high levels of physical disorder in their area.” (www.homeoffice.gov accessed Feb 2010) People’s perception of an area can become a barrier creating inequalities., t This can be evidenced in the scene from the Municipal Club on City Road where the changes in the area and the influx of young people at night makes local people feel excluded and threatened, so much so that they would prefer to take a taxi 300 metres rather than walk. One elderly male customer states, “You walk top (of) c City Rroad at night, you’re afraid to walk up it. Its hundreds up there on the weekend, just waiting to explode” (Making Social Lives On City Road scene 5) This exclusion of certain members of the community creates inequality as they choose to stay away. A similar inequality is also evident on Uxbridge Road where on a weekend evening the average age group does not exceed 40 and police presence is visibly increased. In conclusion it would seem that the type of people and activities at different times of day in both areas dictates the communities’ perception of safety and crime. Possibly people feel that during the day there may be more community structure and an element of protection, this makes them feel relatively safe. However at night when the purpose of the area and its inhabitants is altered an unsubstantiated perception of crime is produced, this in turn creates exclusion, inequality and visible social differences. References 'Making social lives on City Road' (2009) Making Social Lives [DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University. Jansson, K (n.d.) British Crime Survey - Measuring crime for 25 years. Available from: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/bcs25.pdf (Accessed on '') n.d. stands for “no date”, and is used when a publication doesn’t give a date of publication, which is often the case for internet publications)