Identifying differences
Using the data in the table, which was obtained using the resource sheets, I have ranked the wards in order of highest quality of life. The ranking can be seen below.
Quality of life ranking
1. Evington
2. Westcotes
3. North Braunstone
4. Wycliffe
Evington
I placed Evington as number one on my quality of life ranking because the data above indicates that it’s the ward with the highest quality of life.
However increasing car ownership and lorry transport have caused a dramatic rise in traffic through Evington. This creates noise pollution for the people living near the roads. The traffic also causes danger to young and old people crossing the roads and is likely to increase road accidents. Increasing traffic also has an environmental effect. The increased traffic causes increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which increases global warming. This affects the house prices in Evington negatively. All these points mentioned have a negative effect on the quality of life in Evington. But I do not have the resources available to do a comparison on quality of life using the indicators that have just been mentioned in this paragraph.
Westcotes
My data indicates Westcotes as being the area with the second highest quality of life. This is an excellent achievement for Westcotes because some years back, Westcotes was one of the most deprived areas in Leicester. Unemployment was higher than Leicester’s average and many houses were in need of repair. A quarter of Leicester’s derelict land was in the area around Westcotes.
However in 1991 the city challenge scheme was introduced by the government. Leicester City Council applied to the scheme for the funds and was successful in its bid. Since the introduction of the scheme £165 million has been spent in the area.
The city challenge money has enabled Westcotes to increase access to affordable housing and local services for many different groups of people. The unemployment has been decreased rapidly and the derelict land has now been changed into five small parks and a big two hectare park.
This Urban renewal or gentrification scheme proved to be very successful in Westcotes and has in my opinion set the example for the wards with a lower quality of life. It has proved that if money is spent wisely, even the worst wards with a pitiable quality of life can become areas of a fairly high quality of life.
North Braunstone
Using my data I have placed North Braunstone third on my quality of life ranking. This is not very good for this particular ward because in the 1920s and 1930s the ward was built to provide better homes for people living in crowded terraced housing in the inner city. But this has not happened. In fact North Braun has become a worse area than the crowded terraced housing areas.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the expectations were high. For people crammed into unhealthy slums, the houses in North Braunstone appeared to be ‘dream homes’. However all housing areas change over time, as do the hopes and expectations of people. The dream homes of North Braunstone in the 1920s and 1930s are now described as being ‘problem estates’. This has given North Braunstone the image of being one of the most economically-deprived areas in the East Midlands.
However in 1999 the government awarded North Braunstone £49.5 million to improve the area. Now my sincere hopes are that North Braunstone follows the example of Westcotes and spend the money wisely on urban renewal and E.I.S (environmental improvement scheme)
Urban renewal is the process whereby the derelict areas of a town (in this case a ward) are improved by upgrading existing buildings.
E.I.S is process whereby everything apart from the inside of the houses is improved. It includes buildings, roads, footpaths, fences, walls, pollution control, street furniture etc.
I hope that money is spent on Urban renewal and E.I.S so, North Braunstone can become an area of high quality of life and provide people living in crammed unhealthy slums with ‘dream homes’.
Wycliffe
In the 1960s and early 1970s comprehensive redevelopment was introduced in Wycliffe. Comprehensive redevelopment is a ‘’housing policy which involves the clearing of areas of low-quality buildings and their replacement with a new, higher quality environment’’. This scheme demolished large areas of nineteenth century terraced housing and replaced it with tower blocks. This scheme also increased space for gardens, parking etc.
These tower blocks provided cheap, affordable public sector housing close to the CBD (central business district). Local councils were attracted by the new scheme. They thought tower blocks would improve access to better housing and the city centre for low income groups.
However this solution has not been successful, as people don’t want to live in the tower blocks anymore. The area is facing serious problems with vandalism, theft etc and to make Wycliffe a better area to live in these problems must be solved. The problems with crime, vandalism etc, could be solved by increasing police forces in the area.
As in North Braunstone an Urban renewal and E.I.S scheme is needed to improve the ward. If it is done, Wycliffe will become a ward with higher quality of life.
Conclusion
In this report I have concluded that huge inequalities exist within Leicester. Wards like Evington are very well of, and they have excellent housing and good access to services, but other wards like North Braunstone and Wycliffe have major problems with crime, vandalism etc. and don’t have access to good housing or services.
I think that Urban renewal and E.I.S schemes are needed to improve wards like North Braunstone and Wycliffe. Westcotes is an excellent example of where quality of life has been improved by Urban renewal and E.I.S schemes.
These inequalities that exist within the wards in Leicester are due to people who have different incomes, and coming from different socio-economic groups, become separated and live apart from each other. The process by which this happens is known as residential segregation. I think that my report has shown that residential segregation does exist in Leicester.
The ethnic composition proved to be a factor that couldn’t be used as an indicator of quality of life. If the ranking had been done according to ethnic composition it would have been
1. North Braunstone
2. Evington
3. Westcotes
4. Wycliffe
This is not the same ranking that I achieved using the other indicators. This underlines the enormous effect the media has on us, it can change the way we think about certain issues.
This report can only be used as an indicator of the quality of life in the 4 wards, as the quality of life is different from person to person. Somebody might be happy and satisfied although they are living in a slum and somebody else might be unhappy and unsatisfied although they are living in an area which is supposed to have a high quality of life. However the indicators I have used, have provided a fairly reliable picture of the situation in the wards.
My perception of the 4 wards might be quite different from reality as it’s based on second hand information. The census data that I have used is from 1991 and things have changed since, so the data is not very reliable. If I was to get a better perception of the 4 wards and the quality of life in the wards, I would have to visit the wards and speak to the people face to face about their quality of life.