Changing Spaces Making Places 2- Social Inequality And Rebranding Flashcards
(38 cards)
What is social inequality
The uneven distribution of opportunities and resources for different social groups
How and why spatial patterns of social inequalities vary between places
Global Scale (between LIDCs and ACs)
-global wealth inequality- 62 individuals have the same wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people
Billionaires vs refugees and homeless
Inequality in income
-global health inequality- 36 yers gap between the life expectancy between most and least developed country
Malawi- 47 years
Japan- 87 years
Limited access to sanitation and clean water
Rurality- low personal mobility
Poverty and unemployment’
Low life expectancy
-global educational inequality- more than 72 million children at primary education age not in school
760million adults are illiterate
Children are born in poverty- intergenerational inequality- limits of social opportunities
How and why spatial patterns of social inequalities vary within places (regional)
Regional: North/South Divide
How:
North only accounts for 19% of the UK economy
North contains 9 out of 10 of the most deprived areas
29% of the schools in North are rated ‘poor’, compared to 16% in the South
Why:
Income inequalities- globalisation led to manufacturing sector outsourcing to cheaper LIDCs which led to structural unemployment in the North (the industrial region), emigration, and deprivation
Health inequalities- high levels of deprivation has knock on effects in life expectancy and health due to poor housing conditions, diets and lifestyle (smoking and drinking)
-mental wellbeing- stress and worry about paying bills or surviving on low income reduces health further
How and why spatial patterns of social inequalities vary within places (London)
Richmond vs Tower Hamlets
London has the largest pay gap between richest 1% and poorest 1%
- someone in the richest is paid 15x more of someone in the poorest 1%
London has the most unequal pay distribution- top 10% earns £1420 per week, and bottom 10% earns £340
25 year life expectancy gap between richest and poorest
Education inequalities- teenagers from well-off backgrounds have 50% chance attending universities, while the poorest boroughs only have 10% chance
Why:
Education inequalities- school recruitment based on postcodes- where the top performing schools are, the most well off would move into the area pushing up house prices and deprived families are forced out
Health inequalities- high levels of deprivation- poor health due to poor housing conditions, diets, lifestyles
- poverty trap- mental health illness- stress of worrying about paying bills or surviving on low income reduces health further
How to measure social inequality using housing indices
Housing Tenure- refer to whether you own or rent property, expressed as % rented or % owner occupied
Strong Correlation between social inequality and tenure
How to measure social inequality using employment indices
Index of multiple deprivation- multiple indicators combined to come up with a deprivation score and ranks all regions
It includes: Income, employment, education, living environment, and crime
Absolute poverty- extreme deprivation- people with income less than $2.15 per day, can’t afford basic living
Relative poverty- when person’s income is significantly lower than average in their society
Gini coefficient- measures income inequality- 0 is perfect equality and 1 is perfect inequality
Labour Force Survey
Claimant Count
How to measure social inequality using education indices
Literacy rate- % of people who can read and write- shows education opportunities within that country
5 GCSEs A-C- used in UK showing education opportunities
How to measure social inequality using healthcare indices
Number of doctors (per 1000)- shows access to medical care
Life expectancy- reflection of standards of living, diet..
Index of multiple deprivation- multiple indicators combined to come up with a deprivation score and ranks all regions
It includes: Income, employment, education, living environment, and crim
How to measure social inequality through access to services indices
Accessibility- travel time to the nearest location of service
Taking into account access for people, destinations are attractive, and there are no barriers on the way to the services, safety
Index of multiple deprivation- multiple indicators combined to come up with a deprivation score and ranks all regions
It includes: Income, employment, education, living environment, and crime
Measuring social inequality on global scale
HDI- GNI per capita, life expectancy, education (adult literacy)- from 0 to 1, closer to one, more developed
-composite measure- hard to collect all data- but gives a more complete and accurate picture of the country’s development
Influence of global connections and globalisation in driving structural economic change in places
Transportation revolution- cost of communication and transportation falling- mass shipping and containerisation
Technological revolution- information can be transferred much more quickly
Cheap labour and raw materials and the growth of TNCs
Globalisation- led to increasing flows of ideas, capital, G+S, and people
At global scale, we are experiencing global shifts in the production of goods and services
TNCs outsourcing manufacturing from ACs to LIDCs
ACs experiencing de-industrialisation
Define Structural Economic Change
A change in proportion of people working in different sectors (primary, secondary, and tertiary)
How structural economic change impact patterns of social opportunities
Core-Periphery Model- core regions developing leaving peripheral areas outside
-idea of core develop due to physical and human advantages
-core areas develop at the expense of the peripheries
- brain gain and brain drain
However, government would help through regional planning- e.g enterprise zones…
How structural economic change impacts patterns of inequality for people and places
De-industrialisation- movement of manufacturing away from regions like N. East of England
Spatially creating N/S divide
North- ‘periphery’ since de-industrialisation
Flows of people- brain drain
Flow of capital and investment- towards the core
How:
North accounts for 19% of the UK economy
UK ‘health gap’- 3 yrs difference in life expectancy between N/S
North has 9 out of 10 most deprived areas
De-population to the South
Cycle of Decline in the South
Unemployment- leading to high levels of deprivation and poverty
Due to level of poverty- decreased health in these areas as people have less disposable income of healthy diets/ medication and poor living environment
However, opportunities in long term
Regeneration projects and inward investment form government- to create opportunities
-enterprise zones- lower tax and other incentives- attract businesses to stay relocate there
-Birmingham regeneration- regeneration of decayed cities
Environmental- decline in manufacturing led to improvements in air quality and river pollution levels within ACs
How cyclical economic change has varied impacts on social inequality and opportunities
Economic Cycle- Booms and Recessions
In Booms:
- businesses grow, increasing employment opportunities, reducing unemployment rates, and lead to higher incomes
-however, benefits of economic growth may not be evenly distributed where high skilled workers have higher growth on income
-more affluent groups benefit from excessive profit made in banking sector in the UK
- less affluent groups have very little trickling down effect to them- widening gap between rich and poor
-wealth effect- asset prices rise benefiting people who own financial assets- increasing their net wealth- usually the rich people
Recessions:
- businesses may cut cost of production and decrease employment- job losses
- low skilled are most vulnerable- and part time jobs
- exacerbating income inequality
-lower income groups are hit the hardest by recessions and have less assets to fall back on
-welfare cuts as government face budget constraints leading to cuts in social services and welfare- disproportionately affect the poor who rely on these for support
Case Study- 2008 financial crisis
Poorest 10% hit hardest
Bottom 10% saw a 38% decrease in their net income
Top 10% only experienced a 5% fall
Top 1% see their income rise
Unemployment rose fastest among young adults-7%
Ethnic minority groups were hit hard
Case Study- COVID-19/
Health inequalities- lower social economic backgrounds and ethnic minority groups face higher mortality rate
Economic inequalities- job losses affected the lower waged groups
Educational inequalities- school closure and online learning during lockdowns- digital divide
Role of government in reducing inequality
- Taxation Policy and Income Redistribution
-raise revenue for spending on public services and redistribute wealth
—Progressive tax- ensure that higher income individuals contribute to a larger proportion of their income in tax- the more you earn, the more you pay- don’t need to pay if you earn below £12570
—Social Welfare Programmes- strengthen and expand social welfare such as unemployment benefits, housing supports, and childcare assistance
—Inheritance tax- aims to redistribute wealth in society- 40% tax over threshold of £325,000- money redistributing from wealthy to government which is allocated to fund public services- reducing intergenerational inequality - Minimum Wage
- reduce inequality through preventing extreme income inequality- providing safety net for low income earners- £12.21 for over 21 - Subsidies for Low Income Families
-Free School Meals- help children in poverty and save family about £370 per year
-benefits- reduce absolute poverty- unemployment benefits and disability allowance - Gender and Racial Equality
-Equal Pay legislation- enforce equal pay legislation and address gender wage gaps
-Equality Act 2010- protecting individuals from different types of discrimination
From 2017- companies with more than 250 workers needs to publish data on their gender pay gap
Role of Government in Reinforcing Social Inequality
- Austerity and Spending Cuts
-economic policy to increase tax or decrease spending to decrease government debt
Austerity cuts hit the poorest hardest- 38% in their net income while only 5% in the richest
Austerity and Education- funding disparities may perpetuate intergenerational inequality
Austerity and Welfare- reduction in welfare can disproportionately affect the poor - Benefits Cap
-limits household benefits to £20,000, pushing many into deeper poverty - Tax Policy
-indirect taxes- regressive - Quantitative Easing
-monetary policy used during Financial Crisis and COVID-19 to stimulate economic growth- creating hundreds of billions of electric money- led to increase in housing prices and disproportionately benefit the rich who owns assets
-FTSE share prices doubled, housing prices increased by 63%, gold increased by 163%
Define placemaking
Process if making places out of spaces
Giving space an identity that is shared by many and brings together local communities to create public spaces that gives a good sense of place
Planning cities around people
How governments and organisations attempt to present places to the wider world to attract inward investment and regeneration
Flagship Projects- Olympics and World Cup
-Olympics in London- increases regions profile- creates global audience for city and create positive perception- attracts FDI
‘Olympic Effect’ resulted in £2.5 billion of additional FDI
Increasing National Pride, people would come and spend money within the economy- boosting the economy
Regeneration-Bullring Centre- Birmingham
Creating positive image of the city as being post modern/ progressive- better perception of place
Makes city more attractive to inward investment
Ambassadors/ Governmental Departments
-promote the UK within different countries to encourage good relations- could lead to good trade deals and more private investment
-State Visits- in 2015- Chinese State Visit of President Xi Jinping to meet the Queen- about £40 billion worth of trade deals and investment agreed between the countries
How architects and planners attempt to create meaningful and authentic places through design
Birmingham:
-post modern architecture to create new sense of place and meaning- Bull Ring, New Street Station, The Mailbox
-buildings are progressive, modern, and innovative
-Bullring- iconic and symbol of city
-Gas Street Basin- regeneration had taken into account of Birmingham’s industrial past
Old industrial warehouses are gentrified but canals are maintained as a reminder of the history- preventing from placelessness- maintaining place identity
Curitiba- Brazil:
Jamie Lerner, the mayor- focused planning around pedestrians and created Brazil’s first pedestrianised high street- created a public space for recreational purposes
Introduced 16 parks and more than 1000 green public spaces making Curitiba the ‘Green Capital’ of the world- strong sense of place and positive perceptions
Creating 24hrs cities
-London, attracting young demographics and tourists, increase night time economy and new sense of place
Drinking Laws- The Licensing Act in 2005- UK pubs are allowed to serve alcohol 24hrs everyday- encourages 24hr cities by allowing people to socialise throughout
Infrastructure Planning
-increased night time transport- 52 night bus routes
-2014- introduced Night Tubes into London on weekends
How local communities shape the places they live- residents associations
-organisations formed by groups of local people to address issues within local areas and act as a voice for their local community
-have a representative to influence decision making influencing the neighbourhood
-campaign on planning issues that could change nature of a place- NIMBYism
-help increase a sense of belonging to a community
Spitalfields Residents Association (SRA)- vocally opposed regeneration projects that would influence the sense of place- e.g Old Spitalfields Market
-anti-gentrification protests to preserve sense of place
How local communities shape the places they live- heritage associations
National Trust- Back to Back- preserve important characteristics of some places
Prevents against new development that erodes the historical sense of place- National Trust owns 200 important historical properties across the UK and make it open to public- which celebrates and promotes historical places
