Geography coursework. Finding the central business district

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Introduction

 

Introduction

Beannchar, the Irish name of Bangor, comes from the Old Norse for 'horned bay'. From being a Neolithic settlement to the establishment of the monastic settlement and beyond the shores of Bangor Bay, Bangor had a long history of settlement. Its location in a sheltered bay so close to the Irish Sea established it as a fishing port and harbour. A tower and tower house were built in 1636 as a custom house down at the docks. These are still present today and house a tourist information centre. The sandy beaches at Bangor Bay and nearby Ballyholme Bay later established it as a holiday resort for families to escape the industrialisation of Belfast. The Bangor to Belfast rail line is still one of the busiest lines in Northern Ireland today.

My aim is to attempt to delimit the CBD of Bangor.

There were many reasons for me to choose Bangor. One reason being that it was big enough to be able to find the CBD. In towns such as Groomsport it wouldn’t be possible to find the CBD. Also Bangor was close, and had easy access to the town centre. Another reason being that I have good knowledge of Bangor and that made it easy for me to get to the count points.

Hypothesis

I am going to look at several areas for my hypothesis. The subtitles being “land use/function” “building height” “pedestrian density” and “vehicle density.” And explaining how and why it changes between the outskirts and CBD.

Land use/function

The land use between Ballyholme road and high street was very dramatic and instantaneous. It went from entirely residential to virtually all commercial use. Once you enter high street it is obvious you are in the CBD. All the land use inside the CBD would be commercial and outside would be residential areas. This is because property developers wouldn’t be able to afford the land in the CBD as it is much more sought after and so if much higher priced.  

Building Height

Another noticeable change between the CBD and outskirts would be the height of the buildings. On Ballyholme road it was mainly 2 storey houses. Then as you entered the CBD (High Street and Main Street) there were usually at least 3 storeys to each building. The main reason for this is because land prices in the CBD are so high, it is cheaper for the companies to build upwards rather than outwards.

Pedestrian Density

On Ballyholme road there was two pedestrian counts. The number of pedestrians that passed both points, added together equals a total of 5 pedestrians. Then the total of pedestrians on high street counted was 21, and on main street 110. You can see how contrasting the outskirts and CBD are. The main reason for such high results would be that all the shops would be in the CBD hence why so many people would be around the same area.

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Vehicle density

Like the pedestrian counts the vehicle counts in the CBD were also much higher compared to the outskirts of the CBD. On Ballyholme road there were a total of 20 vehicles recorded, on High Street a total of 79 vehicles, and on Main Street a total of 124 vehicles. One reason for the higher vehicle counts may be that main street is a lot wider than the likes of residential areas like Ballyholme road and so would be able to keep large amounts of traffic moving reasonably fast.

Theory of CBD

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