Shaping places - Regenerating places - Why might regeneration be needed?

Question 1

Why is Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay area of California, USA, economically successful?

Answer 1

This is the original Silicon Valley’ and hosts the HQs of Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Adobe and eBay in the cities of Cupertino, Palo Alto and San Jose. There are many indicators of this region’s success:

• Population in 1990 was 1.5 million, growing to 1.9 million by 2015.
• It has an annual GDP of $180 billion.
• An average detached house in Santa Clara costs over US$1 million.
• Average household income in 2014 was $89,000.

Question 2

In 2014, how many immigrants gained residency or permission to work long-term in California?

Answer 2

In 2014, 198,000 immigrants gained residency or permission to work long-term in California, more than any other US state and about 20% of the total for the USA.

Question 3

Which are the largest ethnic groups in Detroit and Santa Clara County?

Answer 3

Detroit - Black

Santa Clara County - Other/Hispanic

Question 4

How much did the population of Detroit, a city in the state of Michigan, USA, declined by from 1970 to 2015?

Answer 4

Once the centre of American car manufacturing, ‘Motor City’s’ population fell from 1.5 million in 1970 to only 680,000 by 2015 - a huge drop of over 50%.

Question 5

How has Detroit in the USA’s rustbelt suffered from the effects of deindustrialisation?

Answer 5

• Average household income in Detroit was about $25,000 in 2015, half the national average and more than $60,000 lower than in Santa Clara County.
• By 2014, two-thirds of Detroit’s residents could not afford basic needs like food and fuel and the poverty rate was 38%.
• Life expectancy in parts of Detroit is just 69 years, and less than 30% of students graduate from high school.
• In 2014 Detroit had the second highest murder rate of any US city.
• Average house prices in Detroit are about $40,000 and it is estimated that in 2015 there were 30,000 abandoned homes and 70,000 other abandoned buildings.

Question 6

What is the rustbelt?

Answer 6

The rustbelt is an area of industrial decline in the northeast USA including Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago.

Question 7

In terms of ethnicity, why is Detroit dominated by Black African Americans?

Answer 7

This is because they are the lowest income group left behind when other groups - generally more skilled and better educated - have migrated from Detroit as it has declined.

Question 8

What does ethnicity refer to?

Answer 8

Ethnicity refers to groups of people who share a common culture, ancestry, language and tradition - and often religion. Race (racial group) is based on physical genetic characteristics.

Question 9

What is a spiral of decline?

Answer 9

A spiral of decline is hard-to-stop loss of jobs, people and local tax revenues that lead to further losses and greater decline.

Question 10

What problems do Santa Clara County and Detroit share?

Answer 10

Santa Clara County and Detroit are in some ways extremes, yet they share some interesting problems:

• Detroit has a severe shortage of public sector workers (teachers, nurses) because most have simply moved away to better places.
• Santa Clara has shortages of skilled workers, because living costs are so high, i.e. house prices and commuting costs.
• Increasingly Santa Clara is short of space to build new offices, malls and homes because demand is so high.
• Demand is so low in Detroit that huge areas of the city are simply abandoned.

Question 11

Explain why Detroit has severe shortages of public sector workers (teachers, nurses)?

Answer 11

Detroit has severe shortages of public sector workers (teachers, nurses) because most have simply moved away to better places.

Question 12

Explain why Santa Clara has shortages of skilled workers.

Answer 12

Santa Clara has shortages of skilled workers, because living costs are so high, i.e. house prices and commuting costs.

Question 13

Why is Santa Clara short of space to build new offices, malls and homes?

Answer 13

Increasingly Santa Clara is short of space to build new offices, malls and homes because demand is so high.

Question 14

Why are huge areas of Detroit simply abandoned?

Answer 14

Demand is so low in Detroit that huge areas of the city are simply abandoned.

Question 15

What changes have affected all rural areas in the UK?

Answer 15

A number of changes have affected all rural areas in the UK:

• Falling employment in farming and other primary sector employment like mining, quarrying, fishing and forestry.
• Often this is a result of mechanisation.
• Migration of young people out of rural areas for education and then employment.
• Ageing rural populations.
• Decline in rural services especially post offices, banks, petrol stations and some public services.
• Even in rural areas with population growth, services can decline because many people increasingly drive to use services in nearby towns.
• A shift in economic activity towards services, especially leisure and tourism, but this only benefits popular areas accessible from major towns and cities.

Question 16

What are ageing populations?

Answer 16

Ageing populations are ones with an increasing percentage of over-65s, who are retired and dependent on pensions; they place high demands on public services especially healthcare.

Question 17

How much did the population of West Somerset fall by between 2001 and 2011 compared to the population of Mid Devon?

Answer 17

Very few rural areas in the UK have seen their populations decline but an exception is West Somerset. Its population fell by about 500 to 34,400 between 2001 and 2011. In contrast, the population of Mid Devon, next door to West Somerset, increased from 69,900 in 2001 to 77,800 between 2001 and 2011.

Question 18

Which group of people have tended to migrate out of UK rural areas in recent years?

Answer 18

Young people

Question 19

How can West Somerset be compared to Mid Devon?

Answer 19

West Somerset
Has the oldest average age of any local council area in England, at 52, and has suffered from young people leaving
Has no motorways, higher education provision or rail connections, making economic development difficult
Despite being close to Exmoor, West Somerset had a limited amount of tourism development
In 2015 IMD it ranked as the 56th most deprived local authority, high for a rural area

Mid Devon
Has benefited from the growth of holiday homes and in-migration of retired people; there are some commuter villages
Very accessible via the M5 motorway and the Great Western railway.
Has several tourism hotspots, including the Grand Western Canal and Exmoor National Park
Ranked 156th most deprived local authority area in the 2015 IMD

Question 20

In the 2015 IMD, where was West Somerset ranked compared to Mid Devon?

Answer 20

West Somerset
In the 2015 IMD it ranked as the 56th most deprived local authority, high for a rural area

Mid Devon
Ranked 156th most deprived authority area in the 2015 IMD

Question 21

What is inequality?

Answer 21

Inequality means a difference between two or more places or groups of people. It could be measured in terms of average income or access to services. The term is often used to imply a difference that is ‘unfair’.

Question 22

In Reading, as in other places, where can areas that may need regeneration to be found?

Answer 22

In Reading, as in other places, areas that may need regeneration can be found right next to areas that have no need of it at all:

• Rich gated communities can be found right next to ‘sink estates’ in cities and towns.
• In rural areas, successful, prosperous commuter villages might only be a few miles from less attractive rural villages suffering population decline and service deprivation.

Question 23

What are gated communities?

Answer 23

Gated communities are wealthy residential areas that are fenced off and have security gates and entry systems. They are increasingly common in the UK.

Question 24

What is the most common way to measure engagement?

Answer 24

The most common way to measure engagement is to consider election turnout.