Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Plate 31.1
Queen's Medical
Centre and University
Hospital, Nottingham—a
vast, modern, teaching
hospital situated close to
Nottingham city centre and
a major provider of health
services in Trent Health
Authority Region.
Case study 2: socio-spatial patterns of
AIDS
Nowhere are the complexities of health variations
more apparent than at the level of applied health
intervention—the districts of a single city. In this
case study, we draw on the work of Rodrick
Wallace and colleagues (Wallace 1988; 1990; 1991;
Wallace and Wallace 1993; 1997a; 1997b; Wallace
et al
. 1994; 1997) to illustrate how techniques of
spatial analysis, when combined with empirical
evidence from disciplines such as sociology and
criminology, can be used to isolate the
circumstances that have fuelled a local-level
epidemic.
In his paper
A Synergism of Plagues,
Wallace
(1988: p. 1) describes the Bronx area of NewYork
City (see Figure 31.3 for location) as 'symbol of a
systematic catastrophe in American cities.' At the
heart of this catastrophe lie the profound health
consequences of officially, if covertly, sanctioned
urban decay and its social sequelae. These sequelae
include the disintegration of community networks
and the social dislocation of minority groups, the
deterioration of public order, and the rise in a
gamut of behavioural pathologies such as
substance abuse and drug-related prostitution,
violence and murder. Box 31.2 illustrates how this
nexus of social and physical decay has shaped the
geography of one of the most prominent public
Plate 31.2
A suburban general practitioner's surgery
within walking distance of the Queen's Medical Centre.
