Discuss_Some_of_the_Ways_Differences_and_Inequalities_Are_Made_on_the_Streets_in_the_Uk

Discuss some of the ways differences and inequalities are made on streets in the UK. Many of us believe that our street is unique, a perception derived from daily personal experience. However, many of the things we observe: different activities; different and competing uses of the street space; and, different uses and perceptions of place, create differences and inequalities in a pattern that we could recognise on any street in the UK. This essay explores these patterns by reference to: City Road; Elgar Crescent; and, Countisbury Avenue. City Road is a busy thoroughfare hosting a range of small businesses, cafes, takeaways and restaurants. It bears witness to an ever changing mixture of activity and interactions, where we see some businesses such as the Taste Buds café serving a dual purpose providing not only the traditional and expected café service, but also an indirect and less expected community service. In the same scene, we see local poet and artist Lloyd Robson discussing with Colin Butwell, the proprietor of a small general store, the difference made by bigger retailers such as Tescos and Spar opening in City Road and their impact on smaller businesses. It was interesting to note that whilst the local newspaper shop closed with the arrival of Spar, his business was little affected compared to the impact he now recognises as a result of Tescos arrival (Making Social Lives on City Road’- 2009). In Countisbury Avenue, a similarly busy thoroughfare, but fewer shops, the takeover of the local Somerfield petrol station by the Co-operative Group and subsequent expansion into a larger retail/petrol outlet led to the closure of the local Londis grocery store. The site is now occupied by a high-end bicycle shop. As Blakely observes ‘some people gain from this reshaping of society….other people lose… It creates new inequalities and differences and it might reinforce existing inequalities and differences’ (Making Social Lives on City Road’, 2009, scene 3). The different and often competing uses of the space within a street create inequalities which lead to tensions. Tensions of efficiency in terms of traffic management, private and civic, and in terms of public safety, the pedestrianisation of many old thoroughfares and other traffic calming measures. On City Road we see that plans by the Council to install new bus lanes, although inherently sensible and likely to play to a wider, more acceptable greener agenda, are not that popular with the local businesses who would prefer to see more parking made available for potential customers (‘Making Social Lives on City Road’- 2009). Elgar Crescent is a small residential street backing onto a large grassy area, with both street and grassy area running parallel to a primary school where access to a rear school gate is sited. Being a Crescent, there is a little through traffic. However, its proximity to the school, combined with rigorous parking restrictions in place at the front school entrance for pupil safety reasons, results in a twice daily higher volume of traffic movement/parked cars. Complaints by some local residents led to the closure of the rear gate which led to a significant reduction in the traffic. However, a petition campaign from other local residents with children in the school resulted in the gate being reopened and the traffic problem arising anew. As Byford observes ‘the tensions are always there and they are never fully resolved’ (‘Making Social Lives on City Road’- 2009). Different people require the street to have different uses at different times. Therefore their perceptions of its place and proper use will vary. In City Road, the activities and use are very different at night, where the restaurant and takeaway trade dominate and the demographic shifts predominately to the younger generation. We see the strongly held perception by the older clients of the Municipal Club that the place (City Road) is not theirs anymore and that it is unsafe. An obvious nostalgia, according to Blakely, but a strongly perceived inequality that conflicts with the view of the local policeman who feels there is little crime (‘Making Social Lives on City Road’- 2009). This essay has shown that we create a range of differences and inequalities on our streets through the activities we undertake in our different use of them. Our perceptions of that use often signpost those differences in a more widely recognisable pattern that belies an individual belief that our own street is unique. Word Count : 731 References ‘Making social lives on City road’ (2009), Making Social Lives [DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University.