How Does Quality of Life Vary Across London?

Candidate No. 1312 Subject: Geography

Introduction

Quality of life is the focal point of this piece of coursework. In order to investigate the quality of life across London, we carried out fieldwork in six different areas in London.

Quality of life is the level of satisfaction people have with their lives in their environment. This is a relative concept. It is the standard of living’ which is the satisfaction people have with their way of life - a more general term used to describe countries rather than regions - along with other considerations such as noise and air pollution.

Models are theoretical framework, which have been created to show land. They help to explain the reality though may not actually exist. As the urban area grows, they tend to develop recognisable patterns and although each settlement has its own unique pattern it is likely to show similarities with other cities.

Many models have been put forward but there are two models, which are commonly used. They are two of the earliest and most simplified land use models, the concentric model – or Burgess Model – and the sector model – or Hoyt model.

“PICTURE OF MODELS”

Burgess model

This was created in 1924 and is based on Chicago. He claimed that there was a CBD in the centre of all towns and cities and that it went out in a concentric pattern. He believed that as you went outwards, the buildings got newer and the occupants became wealthier. Therefore, the quality of life improved with distance from a city centre. However, he did make assumptions: -

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Assumptions

City is built on flat land
Transport system was not significant
Land values were highest in the centre and declined as you go outwards
Poorer classes lived near the centre and places of work

Limitations

Only specific to one place and time
Each zone actually contains more than one land use
Does not take account of modern redevelopment or out of town redevelopment

Hoyt model

This was created in 1939 and was based on 142 US states. He proposed his model after public transport development. He suggested that rather than going out in circles, the ...

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Assumptions

City is built on flat land
Transport system was not significant
Land values were highest in the centre and declined as you go outwards
Poorer classes lived near the centre and places of work

Limitations

Only specific to one place and time
Each zone actually contains more than one land use
Does not take account of modern redevelopment or out of town redevelopment

Hoyt model

This was created in 1939 and was based on 142 US states. He proposed his model after public transport development. He suggested that rather than going out in circles, the urban areas developed in sectors, or wedges, alongside main transport routes into & out of towns. He also claimed that where there are industries and low-costing housing, newer industries and modern low-cost housing would also be located in the same sector. Therefore, there will be a mix of how people may rate their quality of life even if they are in the same neighbourhood: -

Assumptions

Wealthy people choose the best sites
Wealthy people could afford cars, lived nearer main roads
Highest rent alongside communication lines and the city grows in ‘wedges’

Limitations

Similar to the Burgess model

In this study, we will be testing whether the Burgess model can be referred to when talking about London.

Hypothesis

In this study we’ll be testing two hypothesises: -

“Quality of Life does not change across London”

“London does not relate to the Burgess Model”

In order to test them we will be visiting six sites to test their quality of life.

The Sites

Central London (Embankment)
Kew (Kew Gardens)
South Kensington
South Woodford
Stratford
Whitechapel

Aims

To understand the factors that influence the quality of life in a city
To study six urban environments in detail
To develop a composite “quality of life index” related to urban and economical factors
To use a variety of Geographical and ICT skills

We will be considering these factors:-

Socio-economic factors – housing, shopping
Environment factors – noise, litter, traffic, open space
Overall impressions

Methodology

We left school early and went to Mile End Station. We got on the central line and went to Stratford Station.

Here we went to Oxford Road and began filling in our environmental scoring sheet and the housing survey. I also wrote down any amenities I could see. We went to Stratford shopping centre where I filled in the shopping table.

We headed back to Stratford station and again on the central line we went to South Woodford Station (George lane (west)). We went to Glebeland Avenue and filled in our environmental scoring sheet and the housing survey. We went back to find an estate agency and looked at prices for houses in the area. We wrote a list of the amenities available and the shopping quality.

We got back into the station and went back to Mile End. We changed onto the District Line and went to Whitechapel Station. It did not take long to hear the sounds of the busy market. We got straight down to filling in our amenities & shopping tables. We went through many alleyways to reach Hanbury Street. Here we checked out the housing. The dark alleyways and the high fencing indicated to me that this was a high crime rate area.

Returning to Whitechapel Station, we went to Embankment station. Now in Central London we filled in the tables on amenities & shopping. To fill in the housing and environment sheet we had to walk a little further, through a very clean park to Buckingham Street. I noticed many people walking past in suits and as well as the number of office blocks I saw, it suggested to me that this area has a high adult literacy rate.

From Embankment, we went to South Kensington. We did not have to travel far to reach housing areas, as all you could see, as you stepped out of the station were houses. We choose Thurloe Square to fill out our environmental & housing survey. There was not much to write about in the amenities & shopping tables.

Still staying on the district line, we headed for our last site, Kew. This looked like a small tight community to me. We completed our environmental sheet & housing survey in Lichfield road. It did not take long to finish off the amenities and shopping table.

As time was hot on our heels, we got back into Kew Garden station and headed back towards Mile End Station.