_Unequal Spaces
Fieldwork locations on Google maps with photos and additional notes.
Poole and Hamworthy.
3.1 Inequality
Perhaps one of the best places to start is the WorldMapper web site. You will need to do some exploring - there is a wealth of graphical information to show gaps in living standards. You will find the Gapminder web site very informative - but again YOU will have to spend time looking carefully at it and making sense of what it is showing you. You can select different indicators for the graphs, so have a play - you won’t break it. There are a couple of useful videos too - check this one (and be sure to click the full screen icon). For more global data, visit the UNHDR web site (it stands for “United Nations Human Development Report”). For further thoughts on social exclusion and inequality, take at look at the government’s Equality web site.
Moving nearer to home, you can use the ONS (Office for National Statistics) web site to investigate geographical areas. You can test your knowledge of your home area at this ONS page. Beyond this, you will have to take some time to research - this requires patience and persistence. There is an excellent micro-site within the ONS site on Social Inequalities through Indices of Multiple Deprivation.
At the Neighbourhood Statistics section of the ONS web site you can look up your home area to see how deprived it is compared with the national picture. You’ll need to read and follow instructions carefully. You are asking some questions of a large database - if you don’t ask clearly, it won’t understand you.
The BBC web site has some useful articles here and here.
But inequality doesn’t just exist between nations, and indeed some of the richest nations exhibit extremes of inequality, and often the gap between rich and poor is growing. The publication of the ground-breaking The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson in 2009 discusses inequality in rich countries. You should read this book. If you don’t have time to learn what is has to say at first hand, try reading reviews of it here, here and here or visit their web site. You should also read Danny Dorling’s Injustice - with online appendix. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Poverty web site is a good place to start to investigate the dimensions of poverty in the UK. Use the menu on the left to find out about income inequalities, for example (scroll down the page for graphics).
In particular you should skim the Hills Report on Economic Inequalities in the UK, or its summary. The statistical information which informs this report, is here. In terms of health, the recently released Marmot Review does the same for health inequalities in England. You can access the Report, a summary and supporting statistical information.
Presenting inequality graphically has a number of options.
If you have spent some time looking at Gapminder and WorldMapper, you can see that the possibilities are many. This youtube video shows another way of presenting inequality.
The 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation are now available on the CLG website. There is analysis and discussion here and here. Find information for where you live, here.
3.2 Inequality for whom?
Inequalities and deprivation are measurable in many different ways. Government (international, national, regional and local) is concerned with reducing inequalities.
Primary Care Trusts compile lots of information on health - a key measure of deprivation. You can check your own geographic health profile - but be sure to scroll down the page to get the whole picture. Here is an Excel spreadsheet which lets you to choose local authorities to compare life expectancies. There are some massive differences - and that’s just in England.
In much the same way that LEDCs are not as “connected” or switched on as MEDCs, so too are the deprived in our society not well-connected to the internet or joined into the economy. Evidence of this is the use of the internet, and you can see how UCL classifies your home post code area here.
This web site from Sport England, lets you access sports and recreational information by location and type, showing that the distribution of these facilities is not even.
The South West Environment Observatory web site has a page with local profiles for Dorset’s districts. If you hover your mouse over the map options appear which may be of great use to you.
The Local Futures web site has some very interesting reports on inequality which can be downloaded. They look at inequalities at district council and super output area levels.
3.3 Managing rural inequalities
Dorset County Council carries out a Poverty Mapping Exercise to see how distributions change over time. The 2008 report is here. This shows that there are variations in “equality” at local, as well as national and international scales. Dorset County Council also produces reports on deprivation for all of the district councils in Dorset. Reports in pdf format may be downloaded from this page. While there is undeniably poverty and inequality in urban areas, they also exist in rural areas, though perhaps less obviously. The Commission for Rural Communities’ web site has much of relevance on rural poverty and issues relating to deprivation, exclusion and non-participation. Their report, Living in the Countryside 2008, is a very good source of information about urban-rural differences.
Local authorities have to make sure that their spending is reaching the right people. In rural areas this can be a major problem with low population densities and isolation being issues. Through strategic partnerships, rural counties are helping to shape their future. The Dorset Strategic Partnership is an example of this, and more locally, the DT11 Partnership aims to “...create a thriving, vibrant and environmentally sustainable future for the town and villages of the DT11 Forum area set in accessible and well managed countryside."
Cornwall has a successful community-based broadband network, with free access in many places - especially if you are carrying an internet-enabled device. If you have world enough and time, you can check the samknows web site for information about internet coverage in urban and rural areas. Beware - there is a lot of information. The mapping options are the most interesting.
3.4 Managing urban inequalities
A few research links
Dorset County Council’s web site is a useful starting place for research. There are links to details of villages’ facilities, while the E-base site has links to articles and data about urban and rural information for Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole. Their links to neighbourhood profiles can provide you with a wealth of detail on specific areas. Don’t forget the SWENVO offering on Dorset’s districts.
Local Futures reports page is a mine of information on crime, deprivation, amenities, life expectancy and so on. The reports are brief, contain graphics and have some short analysis - excellent.
Poole and Hamworthy Fieldwork
Below is a google map of Poole, with some pictures attached, to remind you of your fieldwork day. Zoom in and click on the icons to show some of the features of this urban environment.
Perhaps one of the best places to start is the WorldMapper web site. You will need to do some exploring - there is a wealth of graphical information to show gaps in living standards. You will find the Gapminder web site very informative - but again YOU will have to spend time looking carefully at it and making sense of what it is showing you. You can select different indicators for the graphs, so have a play - you won’t break it. There are a couple of useful videos too - check this one (and be sure to click the full screen icon). For more global data, visit the UNHDR web site (it stands for “United Nations Human Development Report”). For further thoughts on social exclusion and inequality, take at look at the government’s Equality web site.
Moving nearer to home, you can use the ONS (Office for National Statistics) web site to investigate geographical areas. You can test your knowledge of your home area at this ONS page. Beyond this, you will have to take some time to research - this requires patience and persistence. There is an excellent micro-site within the ONS site on Social Inequalities through Indices of Multiple Deprivation.
At the Neighbourhood Statistics section of the ONS web site you can look up your home area to see how deprived it is compared with the national picture. You’ll need to read and follow instructions carefully. You are asking some questions of a large database - if you don’t ask clearly, it won’t understand you.
The BBC web site has some useful articles here and here.
But inequality doesn’t just exist between nations, and indeed some of the richest nations exhibit extremes of inequality, and often the gap between rich and poor is growing. The publication of the ground-breaking The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson in 2009 discusses inequality in rich countries. You should read this book. If you don’t have time to learn what is has to say at first hand, try reading reviews of it here, here and here or visit their web site. You should also read Danny Dorling’s Injustice - with online appendix. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Poverty web site is a good place to start to investigate the dimensions of poverty in the UK. Use the menu on the left to find out about income inequalities, for example (scroll down the page for graphics).
In particular you should skim the Hills Report on Economic Inequalities in the UK, or its summary. The statistical information which informs this report, is here. In terms of health, the recently released Marmot Review does the same for health inequalities in England. You can access the Report, a summary and supporting statistical information.
Presenting inequality graphically has a number of options.
If you have spent some time looking at Gapminder and WorldMapper, you can see that the possibilities are many. This youtube video shows another way of presenting inequality.
The 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation are now available on the CLG website. There is analysis and discussion here and here. Find information for where you live, here.
3.2 Inequality for whom?
Inequalities and deprivation are measurable in many different ways. Government (international, national, regional and local) is concerned with reducing inequalities.
Primary Care Trusts compile lots of information on health - a key measure of deprivation. You can check your own geographic health profile - but be sure to scroll down the page to get the whole picture. Here is an Excel spreadsheet which lets you to choose local authorities to compare life expectancies. There are some massive differences - and that’s just in England.
In much the same way that LEDCs are not as “connected” or switched on as MEDCs, so too are the deprived in our society not well-connected to the internet or joined into the economy. Evidence of this is the use of the internet, and you can see how UCL classifies your home post code area here.
This web site from Sport England, lets you access sports and recreational information by location and type, showing that the distribution of these facilities is not even.
The South West Environment Observatory web site has a page with local profiles for Dorset’s districts. If you hover your mouse over the map options appear which may be of great use to you.
The Local Futures web site has some very interesting reports on inequality which can be downloaded. They look at inequalities at district council and super output area levels.
3.3 Managing rural inequalities
Dorset County Council carries out a Poverty Mapping Exercise to see how distributions change over time. The 2008 report is here. This shows that there are variations in “equality” at local, as well as national and international scales. Dorset County Council also produces reports on deprivation for all of the district councils in Dorset. Reports in pdf format may be downloaded from this page. While there is undeniably poverty and inequality in urban areas, they also exist in rural areas, though perhaps less obviously. The Commission for Rural Communities’ web site has much of relevance on rural poverty and issues relating to deprivation, exclusion and non-participation. Their report, Living in the Countryside 2008, is a very good source of information about urban-rural differences.
Local authorities have to make sure that their spending is reaching the right people. In rural areas this can be a major problem with low population densities and isolation being issues. Through strategic partnerships, rural counties are helping to shape their future. The Dorset Strategic Partnership is an example of this, and more locally, the DT11 Partnership aims to “...create a thriving, vibrant and environmentally sustainable future for the town and villages of the DT11 Forum area set in accessible and well managed countryside."
Cornwall has a successful community-based broadband network, with free access in many places - especially if you are carrying an internet-enabled device. If you have world enough and time, you can check the samknows web site for information about internet coverage in urban and rural areas. Beware - there is a lot of information. The mapping options are the most interesting.
3.4 Managing urban inequalities
A few research links
Dorset County Council’s web site is a useful starting place for research. There are links to details of villages’ facilities, while the E-base site has links to articles and data about urban and rural information for Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole. Their links to neighbourhood profiles can provide you with a wealth of detail on specific areas. Don’t forget the SWENVO offering on Dorset’s districts.
Local Futures reports page is a mine of information on crime, deprivation, amenities, life expectancy and so on. The reports are brief, contain graphics and have some short analysis - excellent.
Poole and Hamworthy Fieldwork
Below is a google map of Poole, with some pictures attached, to remind you of your fieldwork day. Zoom in and click on the icons to show some of the features of this urban environment.
View Poole - urban environment in a larger map
