Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
There have been studies, for example, of poverty areas, areas of
multiple deprivation,
and areas where the incidence of crime
appears to be disproportionately high. Standard approaches
have included the search for territorial indicators that allow
some measurement of the extent of concentrations and the
range of problems that are located in the most disadvantaged
neighbourhoods. Census small area statistics have provided the
main data sources and the fi ne-tuning of these data has moved
from wards to enumeration districts and to postcode areas. The
ongoing debate about the 'postcode lottery' refers to the human
geographical fact that your life chances often relate to where
you live; some neighbourhoods are privileged whilst others are
deprived. Beyond the measurement of concentration and the
classifi cation of neighbourhoods into a typology based on selected
indicators, geographers have moved to more in-depth analyses of
the quality of life within specifi c areas. Generally the issues relate
to the specifi city of place and its infl uence; whether there are
subcultures or local sets of values and behaviour within the more
general traits of society.
Allied to more traditional studies of poverty areas have been
analyses of fi nancial exclusion and the ways in which sections
of the population are excluded from access to loans, mortgage
funds, and credit. Again, there are geographical studies of the
meanings of place and the existence of affective values attached
to specifi c neighbourhoods that may protect them from the thrust
of market forces, at least in the short term. The classic study of
Boston's Beacon Hill, where for many years resident groups were
able to resist the incursion of commercial activities and maintain
the character of their neighbourhood, was an early example of
this approach; as are more recent similar studies of Shaughnessy
Heights in Vancouver. At another front, here is a new focus on
consumption that moves beyond established approaches to retail
centres, shopping patterns, and service provision to less well
understood worlds of second-hand markets, informal sectors, and
car-boot sales.
