Drawing_on_What_You_Have_Learned_About_City_Road,_Outline_Some_of_the_Inequalities_on_a_Street_That_You_Know

B6136468 Deborah Slow DD131 TMA01 Drawing on what you have learned about City Road, outline some of the inequalities on a street that you know. This essay will discuss inequalities present in High Street, Nordelph, (the street where I live) and compare it to inequalities on City Road in Cardiff. High Street is the main street in a very small village where approximately 350 people live. It was formerly a thriving agricultural area but now it is mainly residential. The nearest town, Downham Market is at least 4 miles away. High Street is in a very rural area with no pub, school or shops and is very different to the busy urban life of City Road. This essay will focus on the inequalities of race, car ownership and age. The residents in High Street are almost all white British people but there is one Asian family living there. Their colouring, accent, language, clothing and religion are all different to the other residents and this creates an inequality. The family appear to feel excluded from the community and do not mix with others at local events, for example, the recent royal wedding celebrations. They sense great prejudice and hostility towards their culture and religion, particularly from families who were born here and who have lived on the street for many generations. Some of the “locals” long for the street to remain as it was in the past and are resistant to change. Similarly, this longing for the past can also be seen on City Road when the men at the Municipal Club discuss the club’s bleak future. (“Making Social Lives”, 2009, scene 5) B6136468 City Road, in contrast, has a diverse ethnic population with migrants from Iraq, Africa, Russia, the Ukraine and Spain to name but a few. Students, locals and immigrants all appear to co-exist quite happily. The migrant population are fully integrated into the community and the multicultural nature of the local population is reflected in the mix of shops, takeaways and restaurants found there. Although there are many different races on City Road, inequalities have not been created. Indeed, it could be argued that far from being the losers, the immigrants may even be the “winners” in some respects. Their takeaways and restaurants, for example the Hawaiian and the Mezza Luna serving ethnic food have been extremely successful with the local community as well as the migrant population. ( “Connected Lives”, 2009, scene 2 and 5) This essay will now discuss the inequality of car ownership that exists on High Street As previously mentioned, High Street is 4 miles away from the nearest town. Everyone has to travel to go to work, for shopping and for recreation.. There is no public transport available so the majority of people on High Street own a car. People without cars, such as the elderly, disabled and low-income households, are severely disadvantaged in comparison to the car owners and this creates an inequality. Conversely, on City Road the lack of car ownership has not created an inequality. There is plenty of public transport, street signage, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings and bus lanes. This street furniture appears to order the traffic in a way that seems to benefit the pedestrian more so than the car driver. B6136468 This essay will now discuss how age creates inequalities on High Street. The majority of people living there are retired. Many of the properties were once second or holiday homes and now their owners have decided to move here permanently and retire. The few activities that are available, are geared towards the older generation. and are held in the daytime. The parish council organises bowling, dominoes, flower arranging and darts at the village hall but there are no activities organised for younger people. Younger people are clearly missing out to the older people in terms of activities on High Street. Similarly, City Road exhibits inequalities of age but older people are the losers on this street. “At night City Road is transformed with its takeaways, open all hours. The area’s a magnet for young people” (“Making Social Lives”, 2009, scene 8) Students and young people flock to the area to have a good night out but older people may feel excluded or even unsafe to venture there. In conclusion, High Street, as a rural, residential street could not be more different from the outside than the urban site of consumption that is City Road but when examined closer the two streets have more in common than first thought. As Blakeley et al observe, “Although City Road is unique(as are all streets), the patterns you can discover or assemble from it are likely to have much in common with many other streets elsewhere in the UK and beyond.” (Blakeley et al., 2009, p.22) 797 Words B6136468 REFERENCES 1)“Connected Lives” (2009) Making Social Lives[ DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University. 2) “Making Social Lives” (2009) Making Social Lives [DVD], Milton Keynes, The Open University. 3) Blakeley, G., Bromley, S., Clarke, J., Raghuram, P., Silva, E., and Taylor, S.(2009) Learning Companion 1, Introducing the social sciences: part one, Milton Keynes, The Open University. B6136468 SELF REFLECTION • I found looking at streets to see how society is made and repaired and how inequalities are produced very interesting. It has made me look at things differently and question things we take for granted. Although rusty, my attempts at referencing, I feel, was not too bad. • I found it very difficult to relate these concepts to the street I chose and really struggled to get going at the start. I found it difficult to work from the DVD material but was ok when I printed out the transcripts. With hindsight, I don’t think my rural residential street was the best example to use to compare to City Road. I also struggled with the fact that there seems to be no absolute right or wrong answer with all of this. B6136468 PLAN INTRODUCTION • Identify the street to be used. • Describe a bit about it • Identify inequalities that are going to be used MAIN • Describe each of the inequalities found on High Street • Compare/contrast to City Road • Use references to illustrate inequalities CONCLUSION • Similarities/differences between the two'