Urban regeneration

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Afzol Ahmed- Geography Coursework

Afzol Ahmed

Candidate number:    4012

Centre ID:    13212

Introduction

  • Sequence of investigation                                        Page 3
  • Purpose of Study                                                    Page 4
  • Identify the location                                        Page 5
  • About Stratford City                                           Page 8
  • Brownfield Site                                                Page 9

Data Collection (Method)

  • Nature of information and data required                  Page 10
  • Method table                                                          Page 11
  • Survey                                                                Page 14
  • Survey method explained                                          Page 15
  • Group interview with project directors…                  Page 17
  • Environmental quality index explained                    Page 20
  • Traffic Survey explained                                          Page 22

Data analysis and presentation

  • Survey                                                                     Page 23
  • Environmental Quality index                                  Page 39
  • Traffic Survey                                                        Page 42

Conclusion)                            _                                Page 43

Sequence of investigation:

I have created the flow chart below to show a rough outline of the steps I will take in order to carry out my investigations.

Investigating the impact of Stratford city redevelopment

Purpose of study: 

As a class, we have decided to base our hypotheses for our GCSE Geography coursework on the development of Stratford City. We chose to base our study on this redevelopment as it is one of the biggest regeneration projects in London, not only that, but its happening at our doorstep. The site at which the development will take place is roughly ten minutes walk away from our school. The area surrounding the site, now proclaimed by the public as the old Stratford, is highly accessible from our school, by bus or walking. This will make it easier for us to gain information, and also get a better insight as to the developments.

I will undergo different types of investigations in order to prove whether our hypotheses are right or wrong. As well as collecting data, I will also use data that I have collected before starting the coursework, which was also part of the coursework.

On completing this coursework, I hope to improve on my investigative and also my geographic skills, which I could apply on another theory or practise.

Aims and Hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: The effects of Stratford City will have more positive impact than negative ones.

Hypothesis 2: Stratford City redevelopment will improve the economy of the area.

Hypothesis 3: The environmental impact of Stratford City redevelopment will be positive once completed.

Throughout the process of investigating these hypothesises, I will do some work individually, however I will do some stuff in pairs or a group. I will do practical work such as surveying and data collection in a pair/ group. This is partially because gathering data in a group is more time efficient. I will do more theoretical work such as evaluating, typing and graphing etc as an individual.

Identify the location:

Figure 1                                                    Figure 2

Identify the Location continued.

You can see on the map where important landmarks such as the international station and the Olympic park are situated. The area within the yellow border is where the redevelopment of Stratford City will take place.

Accessibility

Figure 3

Stratford City will be highly accessible to people not only from within London and UK, but to Paris, Brussels and other mainstream cities within Europe. You can see from the map that the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) will run through the international station, this will allow people to come in from areas such as Canary wharf. The central line also runs through the outskirts of the new city, the central line will link people from central London into the new City.

Figure 4

I found this map on the official Westfield Stratford City website. We can see from the map that the redevelopments are easily accessible from many areas within and outside London.

Heathrow airport is fifty minutes away, Luton airport and Stansted also one hour away. Stations such as Liverpool St, St Pancreas and Canary wharf are less than ten minutes away. This would be highly beneficial for the working business class people who need to travel a lot.

About Stratford City

Stratford City is the most ambitious redevelopment project within London. The idea is to create a mixed business quarter with housing, retail and leisure companies, with a breath taking urban atmosphere. When completed, it will be a world class example of an urban regeneration.

The project will cost a massive total of four billion pounds and will take up 180 acres of brown field land; this is the size of sixty football pitches. The city will consist of 465,000m² of offices, 1.6 million ft² of retail and will also create roughly 5000 new homes.

At the heart of the city will be the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre – a 175,000 sq m world-class retail and entertainment destination anchored by John Lewis, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer along with 300 international and lifestyle brands.

The regeneration of the city will create up to 30,000 new jobs in fields such as office, leisure and retail. It is also estimated that it will create jobs in the construction field that may last up to 15 years.

The International station which is also within the city will hopefully bring people into the city from places in Europe.                                              The work started in 2007 and the entire project is projected to be finished by 2020.                                                                                                                                       The site will boast the Olympics village, where the Olympics will be hosted in 2012.

Figure 5

Brownfield sites

Brownfield sites, this is the term given to a derelict piece of land that has been affected by former usage.

The 180 acre site at which the reconstruction is taking place was formerly used as a railway goods yard, but has been out of use for many years. The approval to regenerate a new city in the site by ‘The London Borough of Newham’ was approved in 2005.

Below are some of the pictures that I took of the Brownfield site.

Figure 6

Figure 7

Data Collection (Method)

Nature of information and data required:

Before starting this section of my coursework, I realised that it was necessary for me to collect and analyse data based on each hypothesis in order to prove whether they were right or wrong.

I realised that I cannot gather a conclusion by myself for the hypothesis, not only would it be biased, but it would be wrong. What I needed was opinions from people who would be affected by the redevelopments. With this thought I created a survey and decided to head to Stratford mall on a Friday morning. With the results I knew I could draw to a pretty good conclusion. The time at which I was doing the survey was sometime between 10:00-12:00, this is because I knew that at this time people would be heading to work, and these people would be the people that would feel the hustle and bustle of the new city every day.

I chose to do a survey because it would give me a wide range of results; it is also an efficient way of collecting information from a large number of respondents, and is quick and easy. It is also highly reliable as I conducted the survey which makes it primary data.

I have roughly explained just one form of data collection in the paragraph above, however I needed more information and data to come up with a conclusion, hence I have created a table which starts on page 11 in which I will use to explain why I used each method of data collection. I will also state the advantage and disadvantages of the collection method.

Join now!

Figure 8

Stratford City Survey

Date: 12th December 2008        what area you from:                   Male▢    Female▢

Age group: (please tick)

 -15▢                16-25▢         26-35▢         36-45▢        46+▢

Section 1:

1) Do you know about Stratford City?

Yes ▢                No▢

2) Do you think that the developments will have a positive impact?

Yes ▢                No▢

3) Do you think that there will be more negative impacts than positive ones?  

Yes ▢                No▢

4) What type of negative impact will be the highest of concern to you?

Rubbish▢        Greenhouse Pollutions▢        Crime▢        Over crowd ▢

Section 2

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