The old White city stadium, before it was knocked down and built into modern housing estates and Westfield shopping centre.
Maps to show the location of Shepherds Bush
On our trip we visited 12 different places, these where split up into 4 main zones. We then collected different types of data.
One example is the Questionnaires we did, we found out information about how people had travelled to Westfield that day. I put this in a pie chart so it is obvious how many people travelled on each type of transport.
This pie chart shows the amount of people who traveled to Shepherd’s Bush market, and how they got there.
I then compared this data, to the data we collected at Westfield shopping centre.
Analysis
Hypothesis 1- recent housing developments have resulted in an improvement in the environmental quality of the Shepherds Bush area.
In theory I thought that this would be evident because of the Burgess model, as Shepherd’s Bush in the Twilight zone, which is the inner city redevelopment zone. I thought the newer the buildings where, the better the environmental quality would be, because the buildings are new and are being well looked after.
There is a major difference between the two pie chart data I took, because; whereas
Before the largest proportion of people travelled by tube and bus, but in this chart we can see that it is car and bus. This proves to us that the new bus station and car park, which has been built in conjunction to the shopping centre, has been a success. This data surprised me as I thought Tube would be most popular due to the high level of train stations around Westfield and the large number of people traveling there.
I then compared these results to those I collected and plotted them onto a graph, I collected this data by conduction different types of data collection during my trip, including; traffic and pedestrian count and index of decay. These results varied as our trip progressed. We also looked at the quality of different buildings; I have included this because it links to my 1st hypothesis. I can prove this because of the data I recorded and the pictures I took.
While at the new housing estate down Bourbon Lane I took an Index of decay and an environmental quality survey in comparison to the older housing estates around the area.
These results only show us an anomaly because it was only taken once, and amount of litter, vandalism and traffic can vary from day to day.
Hypothesis 2- there has been an increase in the provision of transport in the Shepherds Bush area, making it a more accessible hub
I can prove this hypothesis from the data I have collected, although it is only an anomaly; it is evident that in both of my pie charts that bus was the 2nd most used transport; this proves that the new bus port in Shepherds bush has been a success.
The increase in public transport also minimizes how much of a carbon footprint each one of us has traveling to the area. The number of bus/train stations makes this a possible option for mostly all.
While at each of the 12 points we took a pedestrian and traffic count, the results varied as we moved closer/further away from the sphere of influence.
Using the data from the graph we can tell that at point 1 (Shepherd’s bush station) the pedestrian count was the highest, 67. This is because of the high amount of people coming into the Shepherd’s bush/white city area. This may be for several reasons, many work at the BBC studio station across the road. People are also attracted to the Westfield shopping centre.
Plus, while I was at the BBC studio area, near the station I took an Index of decay score.
From my results we can see that the area has been quite well looked after, for example; there is little litter and not much building decay, this links to my 1st hypothesis, because recent housing developments have resulted in an improvement in the environmental quality of the Shepherds Bush area. The resent housing developments nearer Westfield have a knock on effect on the rest of the environment in the area.
Conclusion
Hypothesis 1- recent housing developments have resulted in an improvement in the environmental quality of the Shepherds Bush area.
I am going to partially accept this hypothesis, because from my results I have proven that environmental quality has risen, nearer to Westfield (bourbon lane) but from my evidence parts of Shepherds bush and white city (shepherds bush station) still have high levels of litter and pollution.
Hypothesis 2- there has been an increase in the provision of transport in the Shepherds Bush area, making it a more accessible hub
I am going to accept this hypothesis because I believe from my results, even though they are anomalies that it is evident that there are a lot more accessible transport systems, for example; trains, busses, and other networks.
Evaluation
To evaluate, I believe that some of my results could have been influenced, as we went on a weekday, on the weekend there would be a higher footfall and therefore ( hypothesis 1) there may be more litter and pollution, and also (hypothesis 2) more cars, buses in the area, as transport systems have to cope with higher volumes of people.
The data would be more reliable if I collected it during the week and weekend and took an average, it would also be better if I had surveyed more people to get more accurate results. Also there would probably be more people on a better day and less at night.