The relevant parts of the field work to this task are the land use survey, so we can see how land is used, and also the street quality survey could come to be relevant because we could predict from the results of that were the main shopping area will be and where shops will be least likely to be located.
To gain our results we worked in pairs and did a land use survey of certain streets specified. We wrote the shop types in the boxes provided on the street maps. We then did street surveys of the specified streets using a specified scheme, that being:-
Street Cleanliness – 1 = very clean
3 = some litter
5 = very dirty
Exterior appearance of shops – 1 = mostly well-maintained properties
3 = some neglected properties
5 = mostly poorly maintained properties
Vacant properties – 1 = under 10% vacant
3 = 10 – 20 % vacant
5 = over 20 % vacant
The only problems that I had when doing my field work was the fact that there wasn’t enough space to write the full name of the shop or building type in the boxes provided on the street maps.
Analysis of results
My results show that the majority of the shops in Colne are convenience stores that sell everyday goods that are needed by the local people who used it as a local service centre. Also the land that is not used by shops/food stores, tends to be offices, this is because Colne has a large area to gather workers from, as it is one of the only decent sized towns in pendle, so it will attract workers and firms to set up offices there. The vacant buildings are shut down shops where the need for what every they sold was declined or other large chain stores set up near by, this is the case with the iron mongers, as B&Q has taken away al the trade as it will be cheaper. Shops or buildings that were not found are high rise buildings or large multi story office blocks or department stores, this is because there is no need for them in Colne as the demand for luxury good is not there, and the demand for high rise offices is not there as small offices are just right for the small firms.
Conclusion
Looking at my results, my prediction, has been proved correct. It has been proved correct because as you can tell when you look at the street survey, the majority of shops are food stores, general stores and service stores. These are stores which tend to be in the low to middle order in the shopping hierarchy. However it has few specialist stores and show rooms proving that it is low down in the shopping hierarchy and will be used mainly as a local service centre. This also proving that my prediction that Colne is used mainly as a local service centre to be correct as well. This also proves that Colne has a poor range of shops and that most of the sell the same items, those being related to everyday use. From my results I can also tell that land is used for offices as well the main office types are professional offices and financial offices. They locate here because it is near a population and because if it is used as a local service centre they will be in demand.
My results have proved the hypothesis to be correct. This is because Colne doesn’t devote any or little of it’s land in the centre to housing, it is used by offices and shops. However the range of shops is limited, but there is a wide range of commercial activity taking place there, e.g. insurance, banking, accountants, surveyors etc.
To improve my results I would expand the land use survey into the market area and look at upper floors of buildings. This would mean more results would be gained, giving reason for a firmer conclusion. I would also use the key as shown in the results, this is because the box spaces were only small and the key would make it quicker and more efficient, also it would show what the building was used for in more detail than just writing in office.
