Diverse places

HOW DO POPULATION STRCUTURES VARY?

• The UK's population, like that of most countries, is very unevenly distributed and changes at different rates depending on location. The UK population grew from 56 to 63 million between 1981 and 2011, but not in all regions equally. There seem to be 3 distinct zones: no growth in the North, some growth in the middle and strong growth in the South. This pattern broadly reflects the economic prosperity of the regions, with the deindustrialised North losing out to the service sector of the economy of the South. It also reflects a persistent North-South divide in the UK.
• Demographic (population total numbers and structure - age groups, male vs female balance) structure is also highly variable between places. There is often a significant difference across the rural-urban continuum (the gradual transition from highly urban places with high population densities to remote rural places with low densities) in both population structure and density.
• Generally, remote rural areas have experienced population decline, as have some inner cities. Suburban, rural-urban fringe and accessible rural areas have seen population growth.

Recent population change in the UK

• During the second half of the twentieth century population growth was very much concentrated in England - this was especially the case in the South of England
• By comparison, much of the North of England experienced relatively little growth - there was sustained population decline in some parts
• These changes were produced by 2 powerful forces:
• The rising economic prosperity of London and the South East as a global centre of finance and business, as well as a hub of modern service industries
• The decline of manufacturing industry in its former strongholds in the Midlands and North of England. The collapse of traditional heavy industries in the North East, such as coal mining, iron and steel making, shipbuilding and chemicals, in the face of foreign competition, was a body blow from which the region is still recovering
• The redistribution of the population resulting from this spatial pattern of growth and decline is often referred to as the North-South Drift

• As well as the number of people being different, population structure varies across the continuum:
• Older people aged over 65 tend to live in rural areas
• The percentage of over 65s in inner city areas is low
• Suburban places have a high number of 0-15 year olds
• There is less variation in 0-15 year olds than over 65s

• Population structure can be explained by a number of factors:
• Urban areas are accessible by transport so have high populations, whereas rural areas have less good access so lower populations
• Access matters for working-age people, but less so for the over 65s so retired people often live in rural areas that are more peaceful but also have fewer services
• Remote rural areas are often mountainous and therefore access is even harder; they have limited transport connections and long journey times between places, so low population densities
• Upland areas have poor farmland suitable only for animal grazing, so even the farm population is few and far between

• Surburban areas have high population densities partly as a result of history; after 1880 many middle-class people moved out of city centres into the suburbs and began to commute to work by rail

• To some extent, planning has contributed to the popularity of the suburbs, accessible rural areas and some parts of the rural-urban fringe. Since 1947 many cities have been ringed by a greenbelt (land surrounding cities that cannot be built on, usually farmland). This has encouraged people to move out beyond the greenbelt and live in rural areas and commute to work in the city. In addition, greenbelts have put pressure on suburban areas to house people at higher densities.

• Two places with contrasting population structures are New Town (inner city) and Lower Earley (suburbs).
• SEE POPULATION PYRAMID WORKSHEET TO CONTRAST THESE TWO AREAS.

• Population structure - the composition of the population of a particular country, region or area e.g. how the population is made up in terms of different age groups, gender, life expectancy, family size and marital status
  
• Population densities generally decline beyond the urban fringe, reaching their lowest in remote rural areas. However, the downward density slope will be punctuated by small peaks that coincide with commuter settlements and then market towns and villages
• The population density is likely to vary in different directions from the urban centre when other factors come into play:
• Physical environment - fairly flat areas lend themselves to residential developments; building houses on steep slopes and flood plains will be more expensive
• Socio-economic status - in general, the more wealthy members of urban society live in the most expensive housing. Typically, they will live in areas of low housing and population densities. They will also wish to be far way from pollution
• Dwelling type and household size - a high incidence of flats will generate a higher population density than estates of detached houses. Household size (the number of people living in each dwelling unit will also have an impact
• Functions - population density will be directly lowered where housing is intermixed with non-residential activities
• Planning - planning consent will stipulate how mnay dwelling units should be built per hectare

• Demographic transition - a model representing changing rates of fertility and mortality over time, their changing balances and their net effect on rates of population growth
  
• Around 1800, with the Industrial Revolution well under way, the population pyramid for the UK indicates a youthful population with a significant proportion of the population falling within the reproductive age range (15-49 years) and, as a consequence, there are high rates of fertility and natural increase. In contrast, the elderly account for a small percentage of the population - telling us that life expectancy was low (around 40 years)
• The population pyramid for 2001 and 2011 shows a bulge in the 40-50 age range - these people are the result of the 'baby boom' of the 1950s. Below them, the shape of the pryamid is undercut, the outcome of low birth rates. Above them, the pyramid is somewhat flat-topped rather than tapered - the pyramid is showing a 'greying' population, with significant numbers of people aged over 65. Life expectancy is now 81.5 years, double what it was at the beginning of the 19th century

Family size:

• In a youthful population, average family size is likely to be significantly larger than in an ageing population.
• Attitudes about the ideal family size vary enormously and are conditioned by cultural and socio-economic factors
• Shrinking family size is partly the consequence of the changing status of women. The 20th century saw more women enter the workforce and enjoy more choices about their lives. E.g. society now accepts the choice of some women not to marry and have children; divorce, unusual in 1990, has been made legally easier; contraception means that those who do not wish to have children can choose not to have them; women are delaying starting families, often after pursuing their careers

Explanation of demographic variations lies in three factors:

• Population structure, particularly the relative importance of different age groups
• The difference between the fertility and mortality rates of a population
• Migration

• A systems view of population at a national level sees change as the outcome of two processes: natural change and net migration. The inputs are births and inward international migration (immigration), while the outputs are deaths and outward international migration (emigration)
• The contribution of net migration in the UK is an important dimension of the changing population structure - many immigrants are young adults and are contributing to the present rise in both birth rates and the rate of population growth

• Urban places show high population densities over large areas. In the UK, urban places have younger and more ethnically diverse populations, with a high proportion of young adults (20-40 years) - because of this age structure, urban populations tend to show high fertility rates and therefore high rates of population growth. Mortality rates are conditioned by two opposing forces - the better availability of healthcare and the stress and pace of urban living
• Rural places have significantly lower population densities, but raised densities do occur in compact traditional villages and in those rural settlements that have become commuter dormitories. Rural places in the UK tend to have older populations, with relatively low nmbers of young adults and a high incidence of older adults (over 50) - this means that rural populations show lower fertility rates and higher mortality rates than urban populations. Population change in rural places is often more the outcome of internal migration - rural places are relatively untouched by international immigration. For this reason, the ethnic component of rural populations is minute compared with that in urban populations

• Fertility (the average number of children born to women of childbearing age) and mortality (death rate - the number of deaths per year measured per 1000 people) are not the only factors that affect population structure. 
• Internal migration (movement from one region to another within a country) and international migration (movement from one country to another) can also have an impact.

• In most of the UK the number of males and females is very similar, but not everywhere:
• Some cities have more males than females because some industries are dominated by male employees, such as the offshore oil industry based in Aberdeen
• Rural areas often have more single men than single women, often explained by women being more willing to leave and move to an urban area to look for work
• There are more male international economic migrants than females, so inner city areas often have more young male immigrants
• Because women live on average longer than men, coastal retirement locations like Bournemouth have more older women

• Ethnicity refers to groups of people who share a common culture, ancestry, language and traditions - and often religion.
• Cultural diversity is a measure of how many different ethnic and cultural groups live in an area.
• Accessible cities are more culturally diverse because of the availability of employment, whereas physically remote areas tend to have the least diversity.
• In urban areas ethnic groups sometimes exhibit clustering (an uneven distribution of population in an area, so that people with similar characteristics are found clustered together in one place) in terms of where they live. Clustering is a form of segregation, meaning people who are different live seperately from other people. In almost all places economic segregation takes place, i.e wealthy people live in seperate areas to poor people.
• There are internal explanations for ethnic clustering (actions and attitudes of the ethnic group):
• New immigrants tend to live close to existing people from the same ethnic group, because they share a common language and experiences
• Ethnically specific services - shops, places of worship, schools - encourage others to live nearby for convenience
• It may be felt there is 'safety in numbers' and stronger community ties if people live close together

• There are external explanations for ethnic clustering (actions and attitudes of the rest of society):
• Estate agents or council housing officers may (consciously or unconsciously) help concentrate groups in particular areas
• An existing population may leave an area if a new ethnic group begins to move in, making more housing available
• Prejudice in the jobs market prevents some ethnic groups gaining high enough incomes to live in some areas

• All places have an image which they project and this shapes people's perceptions of the place as either positive or negative. This image can also have an effect on people in the place. Their identity may be affected if they perceive they are living in an area that has a positive or negative image. 

• Students, other young workers and migrants are affected by these images and perceptions:
• Young people may feel they want to leave a place with a poor image
• People are attracted to places with positive images
• There are likely to be more job opportunities in places with attractive images because companies, like people, are attracted there.

Cultural change is driven along two different pathways by:

• A changing mix of ethnic groups - initially, this results from the arrival of immigrants of an ethnicity different from that of the host country. The cultural change becomes consolidated if the immigrants become concentrated in particular places and if their rates of natural increase happen to be higher than native ones. Subsequently, as offspring of the original immigrants move out to new places, they are likely to take their culture with them, perhaps in a diluted form
• The gradual dissemination of a constantly updated 'new' culture by the mass media - some of this updating might be seen as part of the globalisation of culture. Modern communications are promoting and spreading an international culture or lifestyle. The media are now the global exporters of a 'Western' culture rooted in Europe and North America. The outcome is referred to as 'Westernisation' or 'Americanisation'. This growing global culture is distinguished by its emphasis on consumerism and consumption, democracy and technology. 
• When people arrive from other cultural or ethnic groups first arrive in the UK, they are exposed to the national 'core' culture. Over time, they will be slowly assimilated and gradually, over several generations, assume some or all of the core cultural values

• Places said to have a strong 'sense of place' have a strong identity and character that is felt deeply by local inhabitants and possibly by visitors. The sense of place derives from the natural environment as well as from a mix of natural and cultural features in the landscape, and perhaps most importantly includes the people who occupy the place
• Meaning derives from how a person or a group of people perceive a particular place - what that place 'means' to them. It is a highly subjective aspect of place.

HOW DO DIFFERENT PEOPLE VIEW DIVERSE LIVING SPACES?

• In the twenty-first century many Victorians viewed cities as dangerous and threatening, and places to avoid. This was the view of the middle and upper classes that did not have to work in the factories and mills. This perception was caused by:
• Pollution from factories: during the Industrial Revolution this literally blackened the buildings
• Poverty: the working class lived in inner city slum housing, with minimal sewage and sanitary facilities
• Congestion: many Victorian cities had worse traffic congestion than the same cities today
• There was also a perception of crime including pick-pocketing, petty theft and prostitution. The novels of Charles Dickens, such as Oliver Twist, only played on this perception. 
• Wealthier Victorians reacted to this perception by:
• Moving out to the suburbs, away from the inner city
• Planning entirely new 'model' cities, such as Ebenezer Howard's garden cities of Welwyn and Letchworth

Victorian London

• New buildings and affluent development went hand in hand with horribly overcrowded slums where people lived in appalling conditions
• The city's population exploded during the 19th century, rising from 1 to over 6 million - this growth far exceeded the capital's ability to look after the basic needs of its citizens
• While the Industrial Revolution had borught economic growth and technological advances, little or nothing of thi was directed towards helping the poor. 
• Children as young as 5 were often set to work begging or sweeping chimneys
• Working conditions for manual workers were both dangerous and unhealthy
• A combination of coal-fired stoves and poor sanitation made the air heavy and foul-smelling
• Immense amounts of sewage were dumped straight into the River Thames
• There were frequent outbreaks of cholera, smallpox and typhoid, as well as regular influenza epidemics
• Mid-century life expectancy was 37 years. The poor were unable to pay for a doctor to attend them at home. 
• The prevalence of poverty in parts of London encouraged a high incidence of crime - most offenders were young males and most offences were petty thefts

• The most common offences committed by women were linked to prostitution 
• There were good reasons why London was perceived to be a dangerous and threatening place by visitors
• Some important steps were taken to improve the general quality of life:
• The construction of a proper sewage system to divert sewage outside the city
• The founding of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, which led to imrpovements in law and order
• The building of new homes for the working class

• The same inner city areas that the Victorians feared are today perceived as attractive places because of the range of economic opportunities and the variety of social and leisure activities found there.
• The wide range of employment opportunities - 'major employment centre and international hub'
• The range and quality of commercial and social services
• The variety of entertainment and other leisure activities
• 'Attractive to people wishing to join family or others from that cultural background
• Migrants are likely to 'have some pre-existing awareness of London than other parts of the country - perhaps because of previous visits, but also simply because it has a higher profile as the UK capital'

• Not all urban places are perceived in a positive way by all groups. Some urban places have a 'reputation', which is often based more on negative images from the past than the reality of today. 

The attraction of London to migrants from overseas and from other parts of the UK is made up of several elements:

• The wide range of employment opportunities
• The range and quality of commercial and social services
• The variety of entertainment and other leisure activities

The urban reality:

• High living costs - the high cost of housing, which immediately neutralises the strong attraction of reliably high wage and salary levels. The financial and physical costs of commuting. The generally higher costs of food. It is these high living costs that persuade so many urban people to make urban-to-rural residential moves
  
• Low envrionmental quality - unsatisfactory or substandard housing (particularly suffered by those towards the poverty end of the spectrum). Atmospheric pollution, noise and light pollution. Antisocial behaviour. 
• Crime - crime rates are significantly higher in urban areas compared with rural areas. One causal factor is the higher incidence of poverty in cities - it is poverty that so often drives peple into crime

• Ethnic diversity - minority groups continue to be strongly segregated within UK towns and cities, either by choice or for reasons of mutual support. Not everyone is happy to see their local area being 'infiltrated' by members of a particular ethnic group. But, subsequent generations of immigrants are now moving out of their original enclaves and in the direction of the suburbs. The likely reasons for this include:
  
• Increasing self-confidence; Secure employment; Increasing affluence; A wish to put some space between themselves and their ethnic culture; A wish to become more integrated into UK society; The perception that the 'grass is greener' elsewhere
• Social isolation - a complete or nealry complete lack of contact with people and society. Mnay newly-arrived immigrants initially have feelings of exclusion and social isolation. These feelings can be diluted over time by:
• A willingness to become more assimilated into UK society; Living close to, and feeling at ease with, others belonging to the same ethnic community
• The elderly - many people remain in inner-urban areas. However, gradually all around them begins to change and they find themselves increasingly out of tune with what is going on. They feel increasingly isolated as other older residents have either died or made retirement moves elsewhere. They have little rapport with the increasing number of new residents, particularly if they are immigrants. Concerns about their personal safety and property, and about a rising incidence of crime, add to their discomfort.

• In short, the elderly feel increasingly vulnerable and threatened; they feel socially isolated
• The pace and stress associated with living in the UK's larger cities
• The social polarisation between the extremes of great wealth and abject poverty

• Liverpool is an example:
• Riots in the Toxteth area of Liverpool in 1981 (and 1985) were widely reported on TV
• The 1982 TV series Boys from the Blackstuff portrayed the impact of deindustrialisation and unemployment on five men from the city
• In the 1980s and 1990s the city had a reputation for gang crime linked to drugs, and particularly linked to firearms
• Large areas of derelict land, run-down housing and high levels of poverty added to Liverpool's poor image.
• Today, this reputation is less well deserved.

• Some urban locations are perceived as undesirable for these reasons:
• High crime rate - crime rates are significantly higher in urban areas compared with rural areas. This could be linked with poverty in our cities as it is often poverty that drives people to crime.
• Environmental quality - unsatisfactory or substandard housing, air pollution, noise and light pollution, antisocial behaviour
• Pace and stress

• Ethnic diversity
• Social isolation
• High living costs 

• Cities are complex places, and one part of the city may appeal to some people but not to others. Broadly speaking, the inner city appeals to people at the early stages of their life cycle, but this declines with age. People from ethnic minorities may feel isolated in the white, middle-class-dominated suburbs. 
• People who like the inner city:
• Recently arrived migrants: job opportunities are close by in the CBD and inner city housing is cheap; there may already be established ethnic communities
• Students: they are close to university, entertainment and most lack cars
• Young, professional workers: they can live in apartments close to work; all the entertainment facilities of the CBD

Inner city vs suburban places

• Family life cycle - based on the idea that most families or households go through a sequence of changes in their lifetime, which are particularly significant in terms of housing needs and housing moves
• If you are a young adult, fresh out of university or in secure employment, your ambitions are most likely to be to move out of the family dwelling and into accommodation of your own. Inevitably you have to be content with a small amount of living space in an area where property prices are low. Your residential destination is likely to be in the inner and older parts of urban places. This is not considered to be a downside as you will be close to your place of work in the CBD and, after working hours, you will be able to enjoy the exciting nightlife
• This perception that the good life is to be found in more central parts of urban areas might change when it comes to settling down as a family person. The suburbs are perceived as better fulfilling your needs - for more residential space, good schools for the children and green spaces for them to play in, easy access to good healthcare and basic shops. 
• When you are well along the career path, your salary is good and the children have left home, you may begin to perceive that the grass might be greener in some commuter 

village or town. Retirement is also beginning to beckon, so you are not too worried about the costs and time of commuting. Rather, your perception places greater value on such things as a more attractive residential environment, a house with a good-sized garden, proximity to a pleasant golf course and to a nucleus of good-quality shops

• So, any debate on the pros and cons of the lived experience in particular places hinges on who you are, your changing perceptions and where you are in the life cycle.
• It also depends on what you can afford to pay for housing - house prices will undoubtedly reflect any widely recognised spatial variations in the quality of the living environment

• People who like the suburbs:
• Young families: the best schools tend to be suburban, houses have gardens and out-of-town retail parks are close by; ring roads and suburban rail networks make commuting to work relatively easy
• Older people and retired people: crime is usually low, it is more peaceful than the inner city; they generally don't use services in the CBD very much

• Rural places are often perceived as the 'ideal' places to live. Sometimes this is referred to as the 'rural idyll' - the perception of rural areas as peaceful, beautiful, relaxed and happy. Many urban people have this attitude, which is based on:
• Rural areas having picturesque landscapes of rolling hills and woodlands
• Old, cottage-style housing with flower gardens
• A relaxed pace of life, free from stress and worries
• A strong sense of community
• Places that are free of crime
• Places that have a long history, and historic buildings like castles and churches

• Counter-urbanisation - the movement of people and employment from major cities to smaller settlements and rural places located beyond the city, or to more distant, smaller cities and towns
  
• Possible components of the perceived rural idyll:
• Proximity to nature
• Attractive landscape and scenery
• Sheltered location
• Peace and quiet
• Organic farming
• Friendly community
• Easy access to services
• Personal security
• No pollution
• Minimal crime

Hardy's 'Wessex'

• In the Wessex novels Hardy gave detailed descriptions of the country life throughout the year - these were based on the observations he made as a he cycled around Dorset and parts of adjacent countries
• On the one hand, Hardy was perpetuating the rural idyll. On the other hand, his novels constantly reminded us of the harshness of rural life, its strange folklore and its often cruel traditions
• Tourists today are still drawn to Dorset by the Wessex novels.

• Accessible rural places are of two types - those that lie within commuting reach of towns and cities, and those that lie beyond that reach but are accessible from urban areas for recreation, leisure and retirement
• In England, 19.8 million people live in rural areas and, of these, 98% live in accessible rural places
• Commuter belt - the growth is partly due to the arrival of large numbers of workers and their families, keen to escape what they perceive to be the downside of urban places (particularly high costs of housing). This in-migration means that adults of working age are

becoming a conspicuous component of the population and so too their children. With good numbers of young adults in the mix of migrants, population growth is also being fuelled by natural increase

• Accessible rural - there is a strong component of retired people. This component involves both those who have made retirement moves away from urban areas and people who have lived in these places for many years, if not their whole lives. The people involved are predominantly 'white-British' - ethnic minorities prefer to remain in urban places. It is these areas that attract urban day-trippers in the context of leisure and recreation - the visual appeal of the landscape, the availbaility of recreational opportunities such as walking, boating, fishing and picknicking. Meeting the needs of visitors can generate both jobs and income, so again people in the working age-range may be well represented in the population pyramid. 
• Government intervention in the form of planning is very much in evidence - some rural areas have been earmarked for expansion, such as villages around Cambridge. It is these that are experiencing fast rates of population growth. Others have been given protection by green belt status, as in London's rural-urban fringe. This has had the effect of dampening down population growth and making them into desirable places in which to 

live. The result is that their populations contain a good many wealthy people in the 50+ age range. Many of those day-tripper honeypot places have also benefitted from conservation measures which, in turn, have made them more sought-after locations for more affluent people

• Remote rural - these rural areas have suffered greatly from depopulation. They have been the victims of urbanisation and its associated rural-urban migrations. The push factors behind much of that migration have been the remoteness, the poor quality of life and, in many places, the harsh physical environment. These places have been gripped by the downward spiral of decline and deprivation:
  
• 1) People, especially the young, leave for better opportunities in urban places
• 2) Employers find it difficult to recruit labour
• 3) Reduced investment in the area and businesses close
• 4) Less money, less employment and fewer people lead to shops closing and services declining
• 5) People become more aware of the general decline and lower quality of life 
• 6) Cycle starts again with people leaving for urban places

• However, there are signs in remote rural places that fortunes may be undergoing a reversal. The qualities of their physical environments are being reappraised by the tourist industry. Remoteness is beginning to be given a positive spin as increasing numbers of urban people put a premium on solitude, peace and quiet, as well as on fine scenery. Meeting the needs of 'residential' and 'touring' visitors coming to these places is creating employment and generating income
• The purchasing of second homes in some areas may look to be an encouraging development, but in reality it is proving to be a mixed blessing - they may bring in temporary residents but they do little to remove the 'ghost-town' effect for much of the year or to stop closure of local services
• It may be that counter-urbanisation is beginning to reach some remote parts of the UK. People dissatisfied with urban living are moving both their homes and their jobs - the latter is made possible by modern communications technology. For certain types of work, it is no longer necessary to remain in physical contact with colleagues and customers.

• Media portrayals of rural places can reinforce this. TV series like Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat and Emmerdale are set in attractive countryside. Rural places often brand themselves using art, television or literature to attract visitors. E.g. Cornwall has begun advertising the locations in the series Poldark as tourist destinations.

• However, as with the rural idyll there is also a rural paradox (the idea that some of the most desirable places to live in the countryside are also some of the least well-well-served places in terms of services like healthcare, transport and shops)

Life in rural areas

• Energy - many homes are not connected to gas pipelines, so have very expensive oil-fired boilers and central heating
• Services - post offices, shops, banks and petrol stations are often very limited - and more expensive than in rural areas. Schools and hospitals can be many miles away.
• Transport - infrequent, expensive buses, high petrol/diesel costs and long distances to services all increase transport costs

• Housing - houses are often old, with high maintenance costs and high heating costs. In National Parks, conservation rules can restrict improvements like double glazing.
• Population - ageing populations means limited social opportunities for children and young people and a feeling of isolation
• Tourism - popular places can be swamped by summer tourists, but deserted in winter with seasonal services closed for month
• LEARN CORNWALL CASE STUDY

• Just as cities have different areas within them, so do rural areas. These areas are perceived differently:
• Remote rural: places to visit, but a very small number of people move there to retire or 'get away from it all'
• Accessible rural: popular retirement location, balancing the desire for rural peace and tranquility with access to services in nearby market towns and cities; coastal places are very popular with retirees
• Commuter villages: within a 1 hour drive to a major city, these are popular locations for young families who are counter-urbanising and who commute to work

• It is important to use data to determine whether people have a positive or negative image of a place. Much of the quantitative data (numerical data which have set values) that can be used are supportive of conclusions you might draw, as direct statistical evidence on image and perceptions are rare. Data that could be used include:
• Census data about population growth and decline, age categories, ethnicity and health
• IMD (Index Multiple Deprivation) data which specifically identify, at a small spatial scale, areas that are deprived and break this further down into 7 deprivation domains
• Labour force surveys which tell us what average incomes in an area are, the types of jobs people do and whether they work full time or part time
• House price surveys - the price paid reflects the desire of someone to live in that place
• Crime statistics

Pursuit of rural idyll in retirement

• Nearly 60% of over 55s in the UK find the idea of retiring to a rural place appealing
• Services - people in rural areas are often expected to travel much further to access the services and facilities that urban dwellers take for granted. 'Rural service deserts' mean that the nearest bank, GP surgery, shop or post office could be several miles away. Rural services are more vulnerable to public finance constraints  since rural service delivery is more expensive than in urban areas
• Transport - surviving in rural areas is now highly dependent on car and public transport. For most elderly people, there comes a time when driving a car is no longer safe or indeed illegal. Rural bus services are being withdrawn and schedules reduced
• Housing - the potential buyer needs to consider the practicalities of old age, e.g. what are the running costs in terms of fuel and keeping warm. Electricity is an expensive way of heating a property; many rural areas have to rely on deliveries of gas cylinders, solid fuel or oil
• Technology - as more and more services are becoming only available online, the ability to access the internet or to communicate via mobile phone is becoming increasingly important. There are many retired people who are frightened by and have no experience

of this communications technology. In addition, there are still many rural areas where mobile phone reception is either patchy or non-existent. 

• Isolation and loneliness - moving to a rural area may mean moving away from friends and family, so retirement moves can often result in feelings of isolation and loneliness. It is not always easy for older people, who are set in their ways, to socialise and make new friends. It can be difficult for them to break into existing rural community networks.
  
• Tensions - tension can exist between the people who have lived in the rural area all their lives and newcomers. The resentment is born from the feelin that the newcomers are changing the character of the place. They are seen as 'urban' people who have little idea of what the traditional rural lifestyle entails. The in-comers are regarded as being responsible for the rising costs of housing and the closure of shops, schools and other services.
• Other spoilers of the rural idyll include:
• Environmental damage caused by some rural activities - farming, quarrying, forestry
• Outbreaks of disease affecting both farm livestock and crops
• The negative impacts of tourism, recreation and leisure (traffic, congestion etc)
• The noise and pollution of busy transport lines that run through rural areas linking towns and cities

WHY ARE THERE DEMOGRAPHIC AND CULTURAL TENSIONS IN DIVERSE PLACES?

• Since deindustrialisation began in the 1960s there has been a significant internal migration in the UK which can be summed up as a 'North-South drift' (the movement of people within the UK from places in the North towards London, the South and the South East). Internal migrants tend to be:
• Young, mostly under 35
• Relatively skilled/educated and motivated
• Seeking employment in an area of the UK that is more propserous than the one they came from
• This means some regions gain, but origin regions lose their youngest and most talented people. Regionally the biggest 'losers' are the North East, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber.
• All regions of the UK have grown in population since 2004, but internal migration contributes to very different growth rates:
• The East and South East grew by 0.8% each year between 2004 and 2014, and London grew by 1.8% anually
• Scotland, Wales, the North East and North West all grew by 0.5% per year or less.

• Because most internal migrants are young, this has contributed to some quite significant differences in average age between regions:
• London is youngest, with an average age of 34
• In Scotland, the North East and North West the average age is 40-41
• The South West is an anomaly as it has the highest average age at 42.9, but also has positive net internal migration. This is because it is a very popular retirement destination.

• There are three components of population change:
• Births versus deaths 
• Net internal migration
• Net international migration

• Immigrants who arrived in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are often called post-colonial migrants (arrived from countries that were once colonies of the UK but became independent after 1947). Most have children and grandchildren born in the UK. These second- and third-generation populations tend to live in similar places to where their parents and grandparents first settled. The largest immigrant groups in the UK are from the Indian sub-continent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh).

Afro-Caribbean, especially from Jamaica and Trinidad+Tobago

• Beginning in 1948 and peaking in the late 1950s
• Filled a post-WWII labour shortage in the UK
• London (Brixton, Lewisham) and Birmingham (Handsworth, Aston)

Indian

• 1950s-1970s
• Economic migrants seeking work in the UK, many in factories
• London (Harrow, Hounslow, Brent), Wolverhampton, Conventry, Leicester, Blackburn

Pakistani

• Mainly in the 1950s and 1960s; many were well-qualified and skilled from cities in Pakistan
• London (Ilford, Barking, Walthamstow), Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester

Bangladeshi

• Mainly in the 1970s
• London (Tower Hamlets and Newham) and Birmingham

Somalis (East Africa) 

• 1988-2009
• About 140,000 Somali-born people are resident in the UK, most arriving as refugees fleeing war
• London (Southall)

EU 48

• 2004 onwards
• Economic migrants across a wide range of skill levels
• Widely distributed across the UK, much more so than the other types of immigration

• There are exceptions to the general pattern that immigrants settle in urban areas. Since 2004 some A8 migrants (those from the eight eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004) from the EU have settled in more rural locations because there were particular skills shortages they could easily fill:
  

• Northern Scotland, working in the fishing, fish processing and fish packaging industries
• Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, working in farming, food processing and packaging

• Large-scale migration will create a number of social challenges in rural areas:
• Housing shortages and price rises, because the amount of housing available is limited
• Challenges of delivering education and healthcare, because of language barriers and limited service supply
• Cultural challenges in traditional rural areas that rarely experience 'outsiders' or change
• However, A8 migrants also reduce the average age of rural areas and boost population because they tend to be young and have children. Economic opportunities are created because many A8 migrants have set up their own businesses.

• Many immigrant groups tend to live in clusters, i.e. they are segregated. This segregation has social and cultural dimensions as well as an economic dimension. In 2014 there were 150,000 Russians living in London. Most live in the wealthiest locations such as Kensington and Chelsea because they have 'exported' wealth from Russia to invest in UK property.
• Conversely, the British Bangladeshi population is concentrated in some of the poorest parts of the UK:
• Around 33% of the population of the London borough of Tower Hamlets is Bangladeshi, and this rises to over 50% in the wards of Whitechapel and Spitalfields
• In 2015 about 50% of British Bangladeshis were born in Bangladesh, much higher than for British Indians and Pakistanis, and 50% of British Bangladeshis speak Bengali as their first langugage
• Over 65% of Bangladeshis live in low-income households and the average household size of five is much higher than the UK average
• Bangladeshis have the highest levels of illness of any UK immigrant group
• The unemployment rate for British Bangladeshis aged 16-24 was 46% in 2014 compared to 19% for white British young people.

• Lack of skills, inability to speak English and discrimination in the jobs market explain why British Bangladeshis tend to live in deprived areas. On top of this is the tendency for them to experience segregation on cultural grounds.

• Given the concentration of ethnic groups in some locations, it is no surprise that the urban landscape of some towns and cities has been altered to reflect the social characteristics and culture of dominant ethnic groups. This includes:
• Places of worship such as mosques and Hindu temples
• Shops selling cooking ingredients for specific cultures, and traditional dress
• Community centres and sports and leisure facilities to suit different ethnic groups
• e.g. Brick Lane ('Banglatown') in London's Tower Hamlets, which is famous for its curry restaurants

• The first post-colonial migrants who arrived in the UK in the 1940s and 1950s experienced outright hostility and widespread discrimination from a section of the UK's population. This has not gone away, but the experiences of ethnic groups has changed over the decades and their perceptions of where they live has also changed.

• This is due to a number of trends:
• Ethnic communities have grown wealthier over time, by setting up businesses and moving into professional and managerial jobs
• Second- and third-generation immigrants have gone through the UK education system and their culture is more likely to be a hybrid of British and Asian, or British and Caribbean
• Communities have put their cultural 'stamp' on the built environment, giving the areas they live in a cultural familiarity they did not have decades ago
• Members of immigrant communities have become local councillors and MPs, giving their people a voice they lacked decades ago

Cultural evolution in the UK:

• Suburban communities - As the economic prosperity of Britain's Indian community has grown they have moved out of poor inner-city areas and into the prosperous suburbs
• Cultural festivals - The Notting Hill Carnival has been joined by numerous Hindu melas (a fair or gathering) in UK cities as celebrations of ethnic culture welcoming everyone
• Political representation - In 2015, 41 MPs from ethnic minorities were elected, up from 4 in 1987. Ethnic minorities make up 4% of local councillors.

• Cultural hybridisation (happens when aspects of one culture are affected by another's, producing a new variant) - some aspects of ethnic minority culture such as curries, bhangra and reggae music have become part of British culture - and in the process have been altered by being in Britain.

• Gentrification - when wealthy people move into a low income, working-class area, which leads to higher house prices
• Social cleansing - implies a particular section of a society being removed from an area; in a UK context it means being priced out of an area because of rising house costs

• Places, particularly urban ones, are dynamic and constantly evolving. Perhaps the most obvious signs of change are seen in the pattern of land use and in the buildings and spaces that accommodate new activities. Clearly, change is undertaken in the expectation that there will be benefits of various sorts, from business profits to the provision of services, that improve the quality of the lived experience for many, but not for all people. 
• Underlying much of the change in land uses is the competition for space. In general, it is true to say that the competition for living space is much greater in urban areas. This competition involves two distinct layers of living space:
• Competition between housing and other consumers of space (services, commerce and industry)
• Competition for housing space within residential areas

• Most urban areas in the UK are expanding. This creates an apparently insatiable demand for more space to accommodate new housing, new services, new retailing, new industrial and office parks. So every land use is a potential competitor for space. When it comes to bidding on the land market, there is a clear pecking order. Retailing (high street chains) and high-order offices (those of TNCs) are usually able to bid highest, with housing and recreation at the bottom end of the bidding league table. So, in a nutshell, if a TNC wants a particular site or piece of land for one of its global network of offices, it will usually come to occupy that site. The only possible intervention in the urban land market is by the local or county authority making use of planning legislation. These powers are particularly useful when space is needed for local or national government purposes.
• Four housing sectors compete for space allocated or purchased for residential development. They are:
• Owner- occupiers 
• Property developers acquiring housing to rent to tenants
• Housing associations providing affordable housing
• Local authorities providing social housing

• In an era of acute housing shortages, this competition immediately creates a situation of winners and losers. The decision as to which of these groups should benefit rests with local and county authorities who, in turn, are guided by government policy and national legislation. 
• Further potential tensions are created where consent has been given to build dwellings for sale to owner-occupiers. The type of dwellings (townhouse, apartment block, detached dwellings etc.) to be built and its price will depend on such considerations as the location and desirability of the site, the price paid by the developers and their market research into what type of property will sell best. IN such a situation, there will inevitably be disappointed groups of potential customers, ruled out because they cannot afford the prices or they wanted some other form of dwelling. 
• Clearly any new housing development will in some way change the character of a place. To some , the change will be for the better, to others for the worse. 

• In 1950 the UK was almost 100% white British, but today it is around 81% white British. This very large increase in cultural diversity has happened relatively smoothly, but not entirely so. Although rare, there has been a history of racially motivated riots in the UK:
• The Notting Hill riots in 1958
• The Brixton riots in 1981
• The Broadwater Farm riot (London) in 1985
• The Bradford riots in 1995 and 2001
• Riots are complex and almost always occur in deprived areas. This means issues like poverty, deprivation and lack of opportunity are often the root cause of people rioting. However, in some cases rapid population and cultural change seem to contribute. 
• There are also examples of so-called 'white-flight' (when an existing white population leaves an area because an ethnic minority group begins to move into it). This is the case in the Bury Park area of Luton, once a white working-class area that is now predominantly Muslim.
• Luton illustrates why cultural change can sometimes lead to hostility between long-term residents and recently arrived immigrants. Its built environment has changed:
• The Asian ethnic group are unusually highly concentrated in one area of Luton
• Bury Park has over 20 mosques, for many different Muslim sects
• There are also madrassas - Muslim schools 

• LEARN LUTON CASE STUDY
• Social exclusion - when people, or communities, feel marginalised and blocked from opportunities wider society enjoys
• Luton's Asian population is severely more deprived than the local black or white population. It may be the case that Luton's Asian population feel excluded and marginalised economically as well as culturally.

HOW SUCCESSFULLY ARE CULTURAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC ISSUES MANAGED?

• In areas that have experienced rapid immigration and cultural change, one way to measure how successfully immigrants have been integrated is to look at employment levels. 
• Across London, the proportion of people earning less than the London living wage (the hourly rate of pay estimated to provide a decent income for people in London, i.e. they could afford to live comfortably) varies by ethnic group. It is particularly poor among the Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups, and has worsened since 2007-8.
• Demographic indicators of change:
• Total population
• Rate of population change
• Migration balance
• Age structure
• Ethnic mix
• Family size
• Life expectancy

• Economic indicators of change:
• Type of employment
• Unemployment rate
• Household income
• % on minimum wage
• Dwelling tenure
• % on social benefits

• If patterns of segregation relate in part to inequalities in the employment and housing markets, then it could be argued that reduced segregation indicates successful management of diversity.
• However, it remains the case that around half of the UK's non-white population live in places that are home to less than 10% of the general population.
• Social progress - how a community improves its quality of life, health and welfare over time.

• Income inequalities exist in all major urban areas with the relationship shown by the Gini index that the bigger the city, the greater the inequality. The Gini index measures how far income distribution within a country deviates from perfect equality. An index rating of 0% = perfect equality, and a rating of 100% = perfect inequality. The larger the percentage, the greater the concentration of wealth amongst a few. 
• The IMD monitors inequalities (quality of life) over time, to determine whether they are widening or reducing.
• Social progress over time can be measured by looking at particular trends.
• Reductions in lifestyle inequalities: Improved education access and attainment has been observed amongst young British Asians over time.
• Reduced social unrest: The widespread rioting that took place in UK cities around 1980 prompted an influential inquiry called the Scarman Report, which subsequently played an important part in highlighting the long-term need to remake and rebrand inner city places in order to (i) tackle social problems linked with the inner city cycle of deprivation and (ii) improve race relations.

• Improved community cohesion: The British Indian Sikh community is now the largest Sikh community outside India. Sikh migrants to the UK have brought their own cultural beliefs and yet managed to integrate into British society. This has led to the formation of a unique British Sikh identity.
• The Muslim community of London have been targeted with hate crime. The Muslim community have tried to respond and improve community relations by holding community open days at the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre in Tower Hamlets. This has been encouraged by the Muslim Council of Britain so that people of other faiths can see a mosque and understand its part in Muslim life
• Cultural assimilation: The process whereby the culture of one group gradually begins to resemble that of another group. New immigrant groups slowly become more similar to the society they have moved into. It is a two-way process, e.g. UK people adopting the foods of immigrant groups.
• If ethnic minority groups and the wider society of the UK are living more peacefully together, we might expect to see a fall in hate crimes over time. The number of hate crimes recorded fell 2011-12, but have shown a sharp increase in more recent years. This is worrying: however, changes in crime statistics methodology and greater reporting of hate crime could affect these statistics.

• In culturally and demographically dynamic communities such as Slough, change is ongoing. Change tends to be contested, because the priorities of local communities and national and local councils do not always align. The table on the next page summarises some initiatives in Slough, by different stakeholders, and assesses their impact.
• Issues with assessing the success of managing change:
• •Each stakeholder has their particular ‘vested’ interest; their particular perceptions and objectives.
• •Each stakeholder will have their own criteria for assessing whether a particular issue has been, or is being, managed successfully or not. National and regional governments will be interested in economic growth and job creation, while local communities may be more concerned about perceived ethnic tensions and crime rates.
• •Reality is viewed in a biased way; reality is approached from different directions. From this it follows, therefore, that each stakeholder will have their own particular view of what constitutes ‘success’ and ‘failure.’
• •Databases are not always available or comparable. For example, Scotland completed an IMD in 2012, while England and Wales completed theirs in 2015.
• •While international immigrant numbers are known for entry to the UK, it is not known exactly where these people move to in the UK.
• •There are several ways of measuring ‘happiness’ and quality of life. It is often difficult to quantify local involvement success or the influence of planning restrictions

Internal migration within the UK

• It has two impacts: 1) It changes the total number of people living in an area 2) It can alter the structure of an area's population
• The migration of people into London continues to be made up largely of young adults, while the outflow to other parts of the UK involves older adults
• For much of the 20th century, a major migration within the UK was the so-called 'North-South drift'. This really started during the severe economic depression of the 1930s, which particularly hit the northern industrial regions. High levels of unemployment pushed workers and their families towards jobs in the service sector of the South. The drift continued for much of the rest of the 20th century. It was reinforced by the perception that a better quality of life was to be found in the South.
• Surburbanisation - the outward spread of the built-up area, often at lower densities compared with the older parts of a town or city. The decentralisation - of people first and then employment and services - is encouraged by transport improvements.
• Another noteworthy migration of the 20th century was suburbanisation, with people moving from inner cities to the suburbs. 

• The character of this decentralising migration began to change once again with the onset of counter-urbanisation. People began moving out of the UK's conurbations to live and work in smaller urban settlements, as well as in rural areas - both 'accessible' and 'remote'
• It is hoped that this process might gradually neutralise and perhaps even begin to reverse the North-South drift

Migration flows into UK:

• There were large flows of migrants into Europe shortly after WW2 in 1945. A lot of labour was needed to repair the huge amount of bomb damage and to help the economic recovery. In the UK, the labour shortage was made worse by the fact that so many people, particularly men, were killed during the war.

Migration from the Indian sub-continent and the West Indies

• The post-war labour shortage was resolved by encouraging migrant workers and their families to come to Europe. The UK's post-war immigrants came mainly from what were or had been colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, and from what had been the Indian Empire

• Immigration was encouraged by an Act of Parliament that gave all Commonwealth (ex-colonial) citizens free entry into the UK.
• The immigrants were from places with high unemployment and a poor quality of life, and the prospect of a better life was a strong pull
• Many of the early immigrants found work in public transport, such as on the buses and London Underground
• By 1971 there were over 3 million immigrants in the UK who were foreign born - the bulk of which had come from Commonwealth countries. It was at this point that the government decided that the country had enough labour and controls were introduced to reduce the number of migrant arrivals from overseas
• The Commonwealth immigrants first settled in the major cities of London, Birmingham and Manchester, where there were plenty of job opportunities. But because most of these jobs were poorly paid, the immigrants could only find accommodation in the most deprived inner-city areas. This residential pattern, established in the late 1950s and 1960s, largely persists to the present day
• In the 1990s, the Uk once again found itself short of labour, so restrictions on immigration were relaxed.This happened to coincide with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and in 2004, eight of these former communist countries joined the EU (known as the A8 countries)

• Their inhabitants were then able to take advantage of EU membership and its free movement of labour between member states. 
• In 2007 EU membership increased again with the admission of two more Eastern European countries - Bulgaria and Romania (known as the A2 countries)
• The global recession of 2008 drastically cut job vacancies and levels of unemployment rose. The volume of immigration had to be curbed in some way but the government was unable to act against the right to move freely between EU countries. Instead, non-EU migrants would now be required to apply for a work visa. But as the UK's boundaries were tightened, so the volume of illegal immigration increased and continues to increase
• The 2011 census showed that the number of foreign-born people in the UK had increased by 3 million during the previous ten years and they now accounted for 13% of the total population
• The main suppliers of immigration are still the Commonwealth countries. Of the European sources, Poland is by far the largest, followed by Ireland and Germany. Flows from the Philippines continue to be high and the volume of immigration is also swollen by refugees fleeing from war-torn countries e.g. Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan
• Perceived job opportunities and the prospect of a decent wage represent the most powerful of the pull factors attracting migrants to the UK

• Unskilled migrants often become the victims of exploitation and discrimination. The jobs they have access to are often unpleasant ones with long, antisocial working hours. Migrants are poorly paid for such work, often below the minimum wage. As a consequence, these workers find they cannot afford even the basic costs of accommodating and feeding themselves and their families. A downward spiral leading to poverty and deprivation is thus set in motion.

Ethnicity

• Between 2001-11, the percentage of the total population of England and Wales that was white British fell from 87 to 82%. 
• It was the ethnically diverse regions, such as London, that showed the greated increase in ethnicity. Here the white British component decreased by 14.9%. In the West Midlands, it decreased by 7%, while in Wales and the North East it decreased by 2.8%. Because of:
• Job opportunities for immigrants - these remain concentrated in London, the South East and West Midlands. The North East, Wales and the South West, continue to suffer from high levels of unemployment
• Immigrants tend to first settle in those places where people from the same ethnic group are already concentrated. They may have relatives or friends already there also.

Migrants in Boston, Lincolnshire

• The 2011 census revealed that the 'rural' town of Boston in Lincolnshire had the highest percentage of Eastern European immigrants in the UK in its 65,000 population. 1 in every 10 people living in the town was from 'new' EU countries such as Poland, Romania, Latvia and Lithuania.
• They are attracted by the fact they can work long hours in the fields outside the town and earn, by Polish standards, large sums of money. 
• The work, often referred to as 'picking, packing and plucking', is physically hard, dirty and, by UK standards, poorly paid so is avoided by local people. 
• Most migrants in Boston plan to stay long term - they have come to the conclusion that it is better to take jobs in rural areas of the UK rather than live in cities, because of the lower cost of living, especially housing. 
• The high street now boasts a bustling Lithuanian supermarket, a Polish restaurant, a Lithuanian cake shop, a Polish pub and several European-labelled stores.
• The immigrants and their families are currently segregated in the town's areas of poor housing. But, given that the children are attending local schools and becoming proficient in the English language, there must be a long-term prospect of integration

Impacts of immigration in the UK:

• Demographic - uneven spatial distribution; higher population densities; increased fertility rates; changes in population structure
• Economic - increased labour supply; filling of low-paid jobs; exploitation; poverty and deprivation
• Political - shifts in government policy; anti-immigration movements; change in voting patterns
• Socio-cultural - increased ethnicity; assimilation; enrichment; segregation; discrimination; housing stress; disillusionment

Internal factors (encouraging ethnic minorities to opt for segregation):

• Providing mutual support via families, welfare and community organisations, religious centres, ethnic shops etc
• Encouraging friendship and marriages within ethnic groups, or reducing contacts with the majority of the population that may undermine the culture of the ethnic minority
• Providing protection against racist abuse and attacks from members of the majority population

• Increasing political influence and power in the local area
• Allowing more opportunites to use minority language
• Providing a strong power base for militant groups to set up to fight on behalf of the ethnic minority

External factors (actions taken by the majority population to encourage ethnic segregation):

• Migration of the majority population out of an area into which a minority population is moving
• Discrimination in the job market; ethnic minorities are more likely to be unemployed and on low incomes, forcing them into areas of cheap housing
• Discrimination by house sellers, estate agents, financial insititutions and landlords
• Social hostility/unfriendliness from majority population
• Racially motivated violence against ethnic minorities, or fear of such violence

Russian oligarch families in London

• Many Russian oligarchs are buying ultra-expensive property in London to protect their wealth against their country's crumbling economy.
• The properties being borught are in the most expensive areas of London - Belgravia, Mayfair and Kensington.
• Russian banks are not trusted, so if people can get their money out of the country to a safe haven like the UK, they will. Few rich Russians keep their money in roubles
• Not all of the Russians investing their money in the UK have taken up permanent residence. They still live for much of the year in Russia and still run businesses there. It is the profits made by these businesses that are being transferred to the UK

Ethnic indicators in the urban landscape:

• Places of worship; Restaurants - ethnic cuisines; Grocery stores - ethnic foods; Clothes shops - traditional clothing; Social clubs; Cultural festivals and ceremonies; Cinemas showing ethnic films; Non-English signboards and advertising; Non-English newspapers and magazines

• E.g. Southall, which contains the largest Asian community in London - food, spices, clothes, restaurants, take-aways, jewellers, languages spoken, 'Little India', processions, celebrations, festivals, church, mosque, gurdwaras, radio stations broadcasting from languages other than English, newspapers and magazines published in languages other than English
• White people may begin to feel threatened and isolated from UK society - these feelings can give spark to a white British backlash, e.g. racist attack, National Front demonstration, smashing of immigrant property
• Three factors that particularly encourage immigrants to move out of their original settling locations:
• 1) Improving earnings
• 2) Feelig more confident and secure in the 'new society 
• 3) A wish to become more assimilated into a host society
• Intermarriage involving white British people and other ethnic groups suggests that there has been some measure of assimilation
• Assimilation - the process by which people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds come to interact and intermix, free of constraints, in the life of the larger community or nation

Jewish immigrants in London

• Over a quarter of a million Jewish immigrants have been drawn to the UK over the last 200 years by their wish to find a country where they might live without discrimination and persecution. 
• Most of the immigrants first settled in the areas of poor housing in the East End. As successive generations established themselves and gained affluence, so the centre of gravity of the Jewish community moved out to suburban boroughs such as Barnet, Enfield and Harrow to the northwest and Redbridge to the north.
• However, there have been sporadic anti-Jewish protests.
• First-generation immigrants often suffer in their new homeland, particularly in terms of having to take low-paid jobs and occupying poor housing. In contrast, the offspring of immigrants (next generation), since they are citizens of the country in which they were born, are seen typically as becoming better off and moving out of poverty. Access to education also plays a role in opening up more employment opportunities.
• However, statistics show that black, Asian and other ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be unemployed, half as likely to own their own home and run twice the risk of poor health than white-British. 

• Statistics also show that the proportion of Muslim children living in an overcrowded housing is  more than 3x the national average. They are twice as likely to live in a house with no central heating. Children from Pakistani and Bangladeshi families suffer twice as much ill-health as white British.
• Many second and third generation immigrants only speak or understand a little English - low standards of English in some minority groups widened ethnic divisions and created communities where English is the second language. Some families deliberately discourage their children from learning English in order to protect their culture and ensure that their children can talk to their grandparents
• Some of those from ethnic minorities are drawn into the vicious downward spiral created by the link between poor housing, poor education and future criminality. With this, plus poor employment prospects, disaffected youths are easily radicalised against UK society. Some are even persuaded to leave the UK and join extremist organisations, such as Al-Qaeda or Daesh

• Competition for living space is much greater in urban areas. This competition involves two distinct layers of living space:
• Competition between housing and other consumers of space (services, commerce, industry)
• Competition for housing space within residential areas
• When it comes to bidding on the land market, there is a clear pecking order:
• Retailing (high street chain stores) and high-order offices (those of TNCs) are usually able to bid highest, with housing and recreation at the bottom end of the bidding league table.
• The only possible intervention in the urban land market is by local or country authority making use of planning legislation
• Four housing sectors compete for space allocated or purchased for residential development:
• 1) Owner-occupiers
• 2) Property developers acquiring housing to rent to tenants
• 3) Housing associations providing affordable housing
• 4) Local authorities providing social housing
• This competition immediately creates a situation of winners and losers

• Tension is frequently created whenever and wherever there is a change in the use of a particular living space. E.g. when residents are displaced by road improvements or independent shops in the high street are pressured to sell up to national retailing chains
• Change within residential living space also creates tension e.g. when migration into an area begins to change the basic character of residential population - tension is created between long-term residents and the new in-comers. The established residents wish to continue in their comfort zone and there may also be feelings of resentment that they are being dislodged and squeezed out by the newcomers. It is likely to be intensified where there are ethnic or strong socio-economic differences between the two groups

Poverty, animosity and social exclusion in Glasgow

• Glasgow is the most deprived of Scotland's 4 major cities. It contains 15% of the most deprived areas of Scotland.
• From the perspective of those living in these pockets of deprivation, it looks as if they have missed out on the investments that have benefited other parts of the city - this fuels the hostility that local residents feel towards various agencies of the government
• Many of the White British population feel that the concentration of ethnic minorities is responsible for:

• High rates of unemployment - the perception that these immigrants are 'stealing' local jobs
• The authorities not bothering too much about investing in the improvement of these ******** poverty areas
• A dilution of Scottish culture
• The animosity lies at the root of the sense of social exclusion felt by many of the people of the Asian and African descent in these wards. They sense that they are being ignored and not wanted. Such a feeling is reinforced by their poverty and their sense of helplessness in trying to break out of the vicious deprivation cycle
• Ethnic tensions in Glasgow, which are largely anti-Islamic, have increased since the 9/11 attacks on the USA, the 7/7 bombings in London and the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007.

• Management requires setting out and following a series of steps or actions that lead eventually to either a solving or an amelioration of the initial problem
• An issue is generally defined as an important topic or problem for debate or discussion.

Possible cultural and demographic issues:

• Ethnicity - assimilating ethnic minorities; respecting immigrant cultures; outlawing discrimination; conserving cultural heritage
  
• Population structure - anticipating future change; encouraging a youthful population; coping with an ageing population; raising life expectancy
• Migration - reducing native versus incomer tensions; stemming unwanted outflows; controlling immigration; improving border security
• Quality of life - improving access to, and quality of, housing; providing healthcare and education; reducing poverty and deprivation; improving the living environment

Steps in the management of change:

• Identify the issue and its causal factors

• Forecast if and how the issue will change in the near future were there to be no intervention
  
• Draw up a change management plan setting out the objectives, strategy and specific actions
• Implement the management plan
• Monitor the performance of the plan
• Evaluate the performance of the plan
• Revise the plan in light of the monitoring and evaluation

Demographic indicators of change:

• Total population; Rate of population change; Migration balance; Age structure; Ethnic mix; Family size; Life expectancy

Economic indicators of change:

• Type of employment; Unemployment rate; Household income; % on minimum wage; Dwelling tenure; % on social benefits

• Social progress - the idea that societies can or do improve in terms of the social, political and economic structures. This may happen as a result of direct human action, through enterprise or activism, or as a natural part of the socio-cultural evolution of society
  
• Both sets of measures listed earleir are involved in the broader assessment of social progress
• The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is particularly useful in monitoring inequalities over time, to determine whether they are widening or reducing.
• The spatial inequalities can be placed into two categories:
• 1) Those that exist between urban and rural places
• 2) Those that exist within places - may be either spatial or between social groups
• When it comes to assessing the management of cultural issues, the task is more challenging. These issues are less tangible and less quantifiable, e.g. it is very difficult to determine how a migrant who arrived in the UK 5 years ago feels about living in this country now
• One route to this sort of data would be via a questionnaire/interview or to set up and consult local community groups

Some possible measures for assessing assimilation:

• Demographic - mapping changing residential distributions of different ethnic or immigrant groups; is their segregation becoming less marked?; what is the incidence of mixed ethnic marriages?
  
• Economic - disparities in wage rates and salaries
• Political - degree to which members of minority groups are engaging in the political process; what % of the electorate in those groups is voting at elections?; how many adults in those groups are now standing in local and national elections?
• Social - the incidence of 'hate crime' and expressions of racism; what trends are seen in the Index of Multiple Deprivation?

• Multiculturalism - the co-existence of different cultural groups. A sharing of living space by people from different cultural backgrounds
  
• According to a study, integration involves:
• Mastering the English language; Getting a better education; Finding a job; Participating in poltiics; Volunteering to serve the public; Celebrating national holidays

• Making decisions about the management of change in any place involves not just the actual decision maker but also the people, groups or organisations with an interest or concern in the issue to be managed - these interested or involved parties are collectively referred to as stakeholders:
• Providers - the owners of the land (most likely county council), the building contractors who will convert the green space into housing, the association responsible for running the housing
• Users or beneficiaries - before: residents immediately adjacent to the field who enjoy the amenity of living close to green space, school pupils and their parents; after: the occupants of the new housing, the local authority from more properties paying council tax
• Governance - control (through laws, power or ownership). County council
• Influencers - a number of groups opposed to the development, those keen to promote change
• Each stakeholder will have their own particular view of what constitutes 'success' and 'failure' - they will have their own criteria for assessing whether a particular issue has been, or is being, managed successfully or not

The housing crisis in Oxford - stakeholders and their perceptions

• The issue: 'The average home in Oxford costs over 11 times the local wage, compared to Stirling in Scotland where homes cost 3.3 times earnings'
• 'Oxford has been named the most expensive city in the UK as rising house prices make city living less affordable'
• 'The average house price in Oxford is £340,864 (2.5x the price of a typical home in Stirling)
• 'The large numbers of people living in Oxford who commute to London to work are a part of the reason why house prices are particularly out of step with local wages'
• The city's continuing housing crisis through the lack of housing availability, choice and affordability, is significantly undermining its future:
• Oxford needs between 24,000 and 32,000 new homes between now and 2031 to meet the city's growing demand for housing
• Oxford has overtaken London as the least affordable housing location in the UK
• Recruitment by the city's businesses, universities, hospitals and schools is difficult because of a lack of housing choice and affordability - this adversely affects the city's economy, the quality of services and the lives of those living and working in the city

• The city's two universities are being held back in the global competition for the best research talent; public services, such as health and education, are compromised through the lack of available housing for key staff
• With over half the city's workforce travelling into Oxford and commuting distances increasing, the pressure on the infrastructure is not sustainable, even with improvements to roads and public transport
• Solution: the city council is doing its best to find suitable housing sites within the city's administrative boundary. However, most agree that there is a shortage of land suitable for housing inside the boundary
• So, in 2014 the council set up an independent review of the green belt immediately outside the city's boundaries to see whether there were any areas within it that might be released for new housing - six possible sites were identified and have since been investigated in more detail. Three of the sites have been marked as 'good prospects for development' and the other three 'prospects for some level of development'
• Another issue is affordable housing - given the mismatch between house prices and earnings. The government has tried for some time to encourage the building of more affordable housing - by insisting that any planning permission granted for new dwellings should include a prescribed number of affordable dwellings. 

• Both rents and sale prices are subsidised - the subsidies are mainly paid for by taxpayers and the house-building industry
• Stakeholders in Oxford: residential households of all ethnic and socio-economic groups will perceive that the need is acute, none more so than young adults looking to find their first home. 
• Oxford has quite a significant ethnic population - 22% of residents from a black or Asian minority group (compared with 13% for the whole of England). 14% of residents were from white but non-British backgrounds.
• Their concerns might be the availability of hosuing adjacent to areas in which they are concentrated, or the accessibility to better housing in other parts of the city
• There may be some residential groups within the city who oppose the continuing growth of the city on the grounds of increased traffic congestion, pollution and pressure on resources
• Oxford City Council - needs to support the city in its search for housing land
• University of Oxford - keen that top-flight researchers are not deterred from commuting to study and work in this prestigious institution
• Social services - the housing situation is making staff recruitment difficult and this is threatening service provision

• Both rents and sale prices are subsidised - the subsidies are mainly paid for by taxpayers and the house-building industry
• Stakeholders in Oxford: residential households of all ethnic and socio-economic groups will perceive that the need is acute, none more so than young adults looking to find their first home. 
• Oxford has quite a significant ethnic population - 22% of residents from a black or Asian minority group (compared with 13% for the whole of England). 14% of residents were from white but non-British backgrounds.
• Their concerns might be the availability of hosuing adjacent to areas in which they are concentrated, or the accessibility to better housing in other parts of the city
• There may be some residential groups within the city who oppose the continuing growth of the city on the grounds of increased traffic congestion, pollution and pressure on resources
• Oxford City Council - needs to support the city in its search for housing land
• University of Oxford - keen that top-flight researchers are not deterred from commuting to study and work in this prestigious institution
• Social services - the housing situation is making staff recruitment difficult and this is threatening service provision

• City employers - the choice for them is to either pay more to attract staff or move to where labour is cheaper. A major employer is the BMW Mini car plant at Nuffield
• Stakeholders outside Oxford - 
• Oxford County Council - needs to help the city find overspill areas
• People living in areas being shortlisted for new housing - largely against any such moves
• National and international companies that are anxious to set up close to universities to benefit from their research, but are keen to avoid the difficulties of recruiting labour
• The UK government is anxious that the University of Oxford and the city should retain their positive global reputations
• NGOs are largely concerned about the conservation and protection of heritage, both natural and cultural

Rural stakeholders

There are a number of challenges:

• Economy - most rural population depends on agriculture, and rural communities still earn less per head than the urban population - need to diversify the rural economy and create new businesses
• Infrastructure - access to modern infrastructure is vital to ensure a high quality of life, as well as easy access to information and the outside world - also key to economic growth and encouraging in-migration
• Affordable housing - access to a home remains difficult for many due to highly restrictive building policies - drives young adults to move to urban and suburban areas
• Services - relative to urban places, rural areas are disadvantaged when it comes to education, healthcare, retailing and other services - powerful push factor behind out-migration
• Conservation of the environment - the contryside faces a number of threats, e.g. from modern agricultural practices and aspects of tourism
• Protection of heritage - most rural communities have important natural and historic heritage which is important at a national level - provides a resource for tourism

Breckland in East Anglia

• An area of just over 1000km2 located in the heart of Norfolk
• Much of the area was once covered by heathland. Sandy soils overlying a chalk bedrock and a dry climate have subsequently encouraged the persistence of this heathland
• Over the last 100 years, the character of the area has changed considerably, by:
• The planting of Thetford Forest (largest lowland pine forest in England), created after the end of WW1 in 1918 - now one of the most popular recreational areas in East of England
• The use of modern farming technology to make the rather infertile land more agriculturally productive
• A tourist industry involving day-trip and weekend visitors attracted by the physical landscape, wildlife and cultural heritage
• The use of some areas of heathland as military training grounds
• The expansion of its network of small settlements associated with the growth of its population
• The area has a remarkably low population density of less than 100 people per square kilometre (compared with an average of 340 people for England and Wales)
• During the last intercensal period its population grew by 7.5% and total population now is 

over 130,000 and is forecast to grow by 9.5% by 2021

• Today, the appeal of the Brecks as a place in which to live and as a place to visit is based on:
• The low population density and sense of openness
• The rich archaeological heritage
• The large nature conservationa rea, such as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), as well as nature reserves run by voluntary organisations such as the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and RSPB
• The relatively low cost of housing

• Deprivation is focused on the main urban settlements of Norfolk. 
• The following have been identified as suffering most from the poverty and deprivation shown around the small towns of Swaffham and Thetford:
• Older people living alone (mainly widows) and older couples often totally dependent on state pensions
• Low-paid manual workers and their families; rural employment typically involves low-paid jobs

• People excluded from the labour markets by unemployment, long-term sickness/disability
• Self-employed people struggling for commercial survival
• Working adults lacking the means to commute and take advantage of better job opportunities in Norwich and Ipswich
• There are plenty of white migrant workers (5% of total population) - they come mainly from Portugal and Eastern Europe and are largely involved in the picking, packing and plucking industries of the agricultural sector. The fact that these immigrants are willing to work for low wages and occupy poor housing does little or nothing to help relieve the rural deprivation
• The upside of change in Breckland is that there is inward internal migration bringing in new people and perhaps new enterprises and skills. Recreation, leisure and tourism are doing well - they provide a basis for a more prosperous place and a more secure future
• Potential measures of change:
• Number of deprived households; unemployment rate; new job openings; visitor numbers; the extent of protected areas; profitability of farms; price of housing relative to earnings
• However, there are less tangible aspects of Breckland, e.g. the perceived quality of  life by local residents, strength of the attachments made by local people to Breckland