My Super Output Area at home is Sandwell 016A (Lower Layer). =http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=3&r=1&i=1001&m=0&s=1269894440453&enc=1&areaSearchText=NN2+7AL&extendedList=false&searchAreas= I do not believe my Super Output Area is a “sustainable community”. Is this backed up by data though?
Economic Activity shows 34.29% of people are economically inactive (aged 16-74) in Sandwell. This seems quite high considering this does not include retired people, students, homemakers and sick or disabled people. In my estate and the newer estates around me you get the impression that these homes are affordable by working/middle class families with nice cars, conservatories and patios. I was surprised at the unemployment rate in my Super Output Area, especially because of how small Output Areas are.
From my assumption above I looked at Household Compositions. The most people living in a household in Sandwell was one family with dependent children, this was 24.71%. This social structure does not surprise me at all, especially with there being a primary school in the estate I live and a high school which is a 10 minute walk away. From what I mentioned earlier there has been newer estates built in my Super Output Areas which seem to be attracting young families.
Environmentally I looked at statistics for Physical Environment. Here it says that there is 0 unused land, in my Super Output Area, available for redevelopment. It just goes to show how huge the housing development has been. All unused land from factories/industrial estates has been used up and I have seen this as I have grown up. This is a sustainable use of development working on brownfield sites. The downside to this is all the traffic moving into the new housing estates and them commuting in the area to and from work. During the two rush hours of the day the road outside my estate is guaranteed to be at a standstill.
Socially I believe I had a safe environment growing up with nice neighbours around me. There are always children playing around the estate now. Economically there is some deprivation with unemployment rates. Environmentally I believe air pollution is high because of so many vehicles travelling through the area. I did think my community was not so "sustainable" but it is also not that bad.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Active Citizenship
The constituency I live in is West Bromwich West Boro. I found this by looking on an election map from http://www.election-maps.co.uk/electmaps.jsf. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough is my local council.
From looking on http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/constituencies/west-bromwich-west I found out my Local MP is Adrian Bailey. He is from the Labour and Co-operative Party.
I believe it is important everyone votes in the election but what if a person does not believe they are informed enough to vote for anyone? If this were the case then their vote is not valid in a way. A vote is a way for people to get their voices heard. It may seem insignificant putting a cross in a box but it makes such a huge difference.
The first time I voted was last year for the local election. I was not informed enough until I did my research a few days before. The only reason I did this was because at first I was not going to vote. As stupid as it sounds, I felt I was too young to have an opinion and that politics was boring. It was only when my parents and teachers from my 6th form made a huge point of the suffragettes fighting for the women’s vote that made me think my opinion does actually count and I will have my own view and research the parties I can vote for.
In the local election the Labour party lost a considerable amount of votes and the Conservatives gained many votes. This shows how people’s votes are very important. They managed to change the net amount of councillors from each party in each council (refer to figure 1 below).
The uninformed vote also threw up some issues in the 2009 election. People voting for the ludicrous (the nicest word I could think of) BNP with a gain of +3 councillors (refer to figure 1 below).
Elections 2009: Councils A-Z (Figure 1)
IN DETAIL
Councils Councillors
Party Total Net +/- Total Net +/-
Conservative 30 +7 1531 +244
Liberal Democrat 1 -1 484 -2
Labour 0 -4 178 -291
Independents 0 0 97 +6
Green 0 0 18 +8
Residents Association 0 0 9 +2
UK Independence Party 0 0 7 +7
Mebyon Kernow 0 0 3 0
British National Party 0 0 3 +3
Liberal 0 0 2 0
Others 0 0 30 15
No Overall Control 3 -2
34 of 34 councils have officially declared
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/region_99999.stm?sortresults=az
From looking on http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/constituencies/west-bromwich-west I found out my Local MP is Adrian Bailey. He is from the Labour and Co-operative Party.
I believe it is important everyone votes in the election but what if a person does not believe they are informed enough to vote for anyone? If this were the case then their vote is not valid in a way. A vote is a way for people to get their voices heard. It may seem insignificant putting a cross in a box but it makes such a huge difference.
The first time I voted was last year for the local election. I was not informed enough until I did my research a few days before. The only reason I did this was because at first I was not going to vote. As stupid as it sounds, I felt I was too young to have an opinion and that politics was boring. It was only when my parents and teachers from my 6th form made a huge point of the suffragettes fighting for the women’s vote that made me think my opinion does actually count and I will have my own view and research the parties I can vote for.
In the local election the Labour party lost a considerable amount of votes and the Conservatives gained many votes. This shows how people’s votes are very important. They managed to change the net amount of councillors from each party in each council (refer to figure 1 below).
The uninformed vote also threw up some issues in the 2009 election. People voting for the ludicrous (the nicest word I could think of) BNP with a gain of +3 councillors (refer to figure 1 below).
Elections 2009: Councils A-Z (Figure 1)
IN DETAIL
Councils Councillors
Party Total Net +/- Total Net +/-
Conservative 30 +7 1531 +244
Liberal Democrat 1 -1 484 -2
Labour 0 -4 178 -291
Independents 0 0 97 +6
Green 0 0 18 +8
Residents Association 0 0 9 +2
UK Independence Party 0 0 7 +7
Mebyon Kernow 0 0 3 0
British National Party 0 0 3 +3
Liberal 0 0 2 0
Others 0 0 30 15
No Overall Control 3 -2
34 of 34 councils have officially declared
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/region_99999.stm?sortresults=az
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Sustainable Transport
Transport has definitely influenced economic and social development in a big way. Of course because of this it has had many costs on the environment.
The over-reliance on motorised transport also goes back to the first ever blog I did “improving the 'sustainability' of my lifestyle”. In this blog I said I relied on my car a lot back home even to drive short distances and now having moved into halls my reliance is on public transport (again motorised transport). There are not a lot of places I would walk to because I have always been used to travelling in some sort of motorised transport. Laziness, the ease of it, and depends what the weather is. Not really good excuses for the over reliance to be fair. I rely heavily on trains to get me home on weekends and buses when I am at university to travel between campuses and into town.
Some people’s jobs involve travelling around the world a lot. Relations between countries create a good opportunity for businesses to broaden and expand and social skills to widen. Our world is now very global because of air travel although this does have impacts on rural areas all over the world when building large airports or expanding ones that already exist and of course the direct impacts such as air pollution on a huge scale.
I do not believe all benefits of motorised transport outweigh the costs but for the world to develop there will always be a transport problem. A happy medium will never occur as it is damaging on the environment and there will always be sustainability issues arising and where would we be without motorised transport. It is how people cope and become innovative towards the scarce resources that will be available to us in the future (maybe not my generation, but still).
Minor changes such as more cycle routes need to be put into place in urban areas. If I wanted to start cycling I would not feel safe cycling in the road, but again you have the downside to this where areas will need to be developed to be able to put these in places. South Africa is an example where they have put projects in place to promote the use of non-motorised transport to cope with their developing urban areas. They have plans in place to change the mind set of people. If it is just an over reliance on these vehicles surely this could also be done in other countries? If a Less Economically Developed Country can come up with simple strategies like this so could More Economically Developed Countries.
Source: http://www.transport.gov.za/content.aspx?subID=19
Major changes already being put in place are the eco cars. I have seen a fair few of these on the roads recently and have seen many adverts for them. It seems fashionable to have one of them. I typed in eco cars to Google and found many news articles on the “Eco cars: the ten best” for example. The only problem with this is they need to be more affordable and available to target the family market for example but none the less it is better than a gas guzzling Range Rover Sport.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/3165537/Eco-cars-the-ten-best.html
The over-reliance on motorised transport also goes back to the first ever blog I did “improving the 'sustainability' of my lifestyle”. In this blog I said I relied on my car a lot back home even to drive short distances and now having moved into halls my reliance is on public transport (again motorised transport). There are not a lot of places I would walk to because I have always been used to travelling in some sort of motorised transport. Laziness, the ease of it, and depends what the weather is. Not really good excuses for the over reliance to be fair. I rely heavily on trains to get me home on weekends and buses when I am at university to travel between campuses and into town.
Some people’s jobs involve travelling around the world a lot. Relations between countries create a good opportunity for businesses to broaden and expand and social skills to widen. Our world is now very global because of air travel although this does have impacts on rural areas all over the world when building large airports or expanding ones that already exist and of course the direct impacts such as air pollution on a huge scale.
I do not believe all benefits of motorised transport outweigh the costs but for the world to develop there will always be a transport problem. A happy medium will never occur as it is damaging on the environment and there will always be sustainability issues arising and where would we be without motorised transport. It is how people cope and become innovative towards the scarce resources that will be available to us in the future (maybe not my generation, but still).
Minor changes such as more cycle routes need to be put into place in urban areas. If I wanted to start cycling I would not feel safe cycling in the road, but again you have the downside to this where areas will need to be developed to be able to put these in places. South Africa is an example where they have put projects in place to promote the use of non-motorised transport to cope with their developing urban areas. They have plans in place to change the mind set of people. If it is just an over reliance on these vehicles surely this could also be done in other countries? If a Less Economically Developed Country can come up with simple strategies like this so could More Economically Developed Countries.
Source: http://www.transport.gov.za/content.aspx?subID=19
Major changes already being put in place are the eco cars. I have seen a fair few of these on the roads recently and have seen many adverts for them. It seems fashionable to have one of them. I typed in eco cars to Google and found many news articles on the “Eco cars: the ten best” for example. The only problem with this is they need to be more affordable and available to target the family market for example but none the less it is better than a gas guzzling Range Rover Sport.
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/3165537/Eco-cars-the-ten-best.html
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
We wish you a Merry Christmas!
Christmas is a tradition borrowed from many rituals from religions in the past and comes from the Pagan origins. Before this blog prompt I did not know this. It just goes to show how my thinking of Christmas is exactly “excessive spending, over-eating and embarrassing self indulgence “. Some traditions of Christmas date to before the birth of Christ and the date of Christmas was done out of spite from the Pope to be on the same day as Mithras’ birthday (so people would stop celebrating the meaning of that day).
Religion does not really get a mention now. Who watches Songs of Praise, for example on Christmas day??? It is all about what movies are on the television to aid us along with the over-eating of the day.
From working in a supermarket Christmas is VERY busy. Over-spending is what you see in the build up to Christmas. It is actually ridiculous looking at the over-filled trolleys and cues that go into the aisles. From experiencing this I do realise Christmas has lost its meaning. This makes me more sad than the worry about if it isv sustainable or not. The answer to… Is Christmas sustainable?... is definitely not.
For one day the word sustainable should be thrown out the window. It is a time for families and friends to have time out and just spend it with each other and the only stresses should be about the roast potatoes and whether they have drank enough alcohol before midday.
In a changed world the focus should be on the build up to Christmas. Shops start selling Christmas stuff in October, during Halloween for example. This bugs me. One tradition should be out the way before another one should have a build up. Otherwise the “do-gooders” should let there hair down and join in with the festivity of the day.
Source: http://www.zenzibar.com/articles/christmas.asp
Religion does not really get a mention now. Who watches Songs of Praise, for example on Christmas day??? It is all about what movies are on the television to aid us along with the over-eating of the day.
From working in a supermarket Christmas is VERY busy. Over-spending is what you see in the build up to Christmas. It is actually ridiculous looking at the over-filled trolleys and cues that go into the aisles. From experiencing this I do realise Christmas has lost its meaning. This makes me more sad than the worry about if it isv sustainable or not. The answer to… Is Christmas sustainable?... is definitely not.
For one day the word sustainable should be thrown out the window. It is a time for families and friends to have time out and just spend it with each other and the only stresses should be about the roast potatoes and whether they have drank enough alcohol before midday.
In a changed world the focus should be on the build up to Christmas. Shops start selling Christmas stuff in October, during Halloween for example. This bugs me. One tradition should be out the way before another one should have a build up. Otherwise the “do-gooders” should let there hair down and join in with the festivity of the day.
Source: http://www.zenzibar.com/articles/christmas.asp
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Tabloids & Entertainment Shows
There is no way The Sun covers serious issues in a relevant way. It is a tabloid paper which can be quite over exaggerated and prone to sensationalism. Tabloids are there to entertain and maybe cause a bit of controversy to attract attention. You cannot even take newspapers such as The Sun seriously, especially when you turn the front cover and see a Page 3 Girl. Out of the best selling newspapers in the UK (listed in blog prompt number 4) one newspaper is where you would find serious issues mentioned, The Daily Telegraph. This is quite shocking that, from all the variety of tabloids and broadsheets available only one broadsheet is in the top 6.
If a newspaper sells millions of copies nationwide it is their role to cover serious issues. That is why a newspaper is called a “news”paper. Broadsheets do this job in a very formal way. You can see this just by comparing headlines. Tabloids often would use a play on words. They are usually witty and tongue in cheek headlines. A broadsheet would use more appropriate one which are to the point. The UK must not want serious issues to be told to them in the style of a broadsheet and must find tabloids a lot easier to read and enjoy.
From the list of most watched TV programmes in the UK there are no programme that you would call factual. They are the type to again entertain, just like tabloids. Also they let people feel some sort of escapism from their day to day lives. The soaps cover serious issues that are happening in the world, but in a made up world.
X Factor does cover serious issues. Every year they have a charity single out, giving them power in the chart with profits going to good causes. Millions of people watch this show, so this is a good influence to catch the public’s attention about serious issues. This year again X Factor went to No.1 in aid of Great Ormond Street. This show has such a huge audience so maybe it should have a role in covering serious issues. It is nice to see an entertainment show do this.
Newspapers and entertainment programmes can definitely influence people. They can change people’s views or create new opinions. It is sociable to talk to others about what programme you watched the other night or react to what you read in the newspaper the other day. I am not so sure about them having power though. I believe power is the wrong word to use. It is the nation’s choice what to watch and what newspaper to buy.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
To be informed or not to be informed???
As a citizen I believe it is VERY important to be “informed”. I should know what is happening in my local area, region, country and also the global issues that impact my life. This is the only way of being equal and fair, everyone has this right. Being informed will help me make more educated decisions and even take part in issues I strongly believe in or even the opposite, issues I feel may impact me negatively.
I do not believe I am as informed as I should be. Governments are forever hiding important information or not even telling people at all. Why else are there so many conspiracy theories around, for example the war with Iraq? I am not a person who believes in conspiracy theories, but does this make me gullible as I have just stated that “I do not believe I am as informed as I should be”? People should know why their country has gone to war with another country. With issues like this the government need to inform a nation and not be touchy with the subject, especially with the Iraq war as it had so much controversy surrounding it anyway. Not all people trust what comes out of the government’s mouths because they are not informed enough.
On the other hand, you could take the complete opposite view with this. The government may only be holding information back from a nation or the globe for their own good. I am sure I would not want to know some issues that may have arisen, like you see in action movies. Especially if they are trying to solve the problem, telling the public would cause mass panic and not help the situation.
Some people may not be informed enough through their own fault. About serious issues I am informed by the media. I read the newspaper, watch the 24 hour news channels and the top stories appear on my homepage on the internet. Since being at university and living in halls I am not as well informed. The paper I would read at home because my Dad would buy this, so it would always be there. In halls there is no signal for my television to work cannot watch any news channels. All I get now is the local news from the radio station that is on in the flat kitchen and the news that appears on my homepage when I go online. I could put more effort into finding out more information.
Regional news is easy to be informed about. In the evening you have “ITV Central” and “Midlands Today” on television. You get the “Metro” to read when you travel on public transport and even have the “Chronicle” posted free through your letterbox. Local news I believe can be a bit more word of mouth and can become gossip when passed from person to person. These tend to be small issues that would not make the news regionally but may have impact on your life. So locally I do not believe I am informed at all.
Complicated decisions should not be left to others. In the past people have fought for the right to vote and be a part of a fair and equal nation in this world. So many people pay taxes, for example, into their country and have the right to be informed so they can make their own decisions. Being informed is up to them at the end of the day. The media is so wide and varied. If you choose to ignore it, you choose to not be informed. Maybe then these people should not make important decisions.
I do not believe I am as informed as I should be. Governments are forever hiding important information or not even telling people at all. Why else are there so many conspiracy theories around, for example the war with Iraq? I am not a person who believes in conspiracy theories, but does this make me gullible as I have just stated that “I do not believe I am as informed as I should be”? People should know why their country has gone to war with another country. With issues like this the government need to inform a nation and not be touchy with the subject, especially with the Iraq war as it had so much controversy surrounding it anyway. Not all people trust what comes out of the government’s mouths because they are not informed enough.
On the other hand, you could take the complete opposite view with this. The government may only be holding information back from a nation or the globe for their own good. I am sure I would not want to know some issues that may have arisen, like you see in action movies. Especially if they are trying to solve the problem, telling the public would cause mass panic and not help the situation.
Some people may not be informed enough through their own fault. About serious issues I am informed by the media. I read the newspaper, watch the 24 hour news channels and the top stories appear on my homepage on the internet. Since being at university and living in halls I am not as well informed. The paper I would read at home because my Dad would buy this, so it would always be there. In halls there is no signal for my television to work cannot watch any news channels. All I get now is the local news from the radio station that is on in the flat kitchen and the news that appears on my homepage when I go online. I could put more effort into finding out more information.
Regional news is easy to be informed about. In the evening you have “ITV Central” and “Midlands Today” on television. You get the “Metro” to read when you travel on public transport and even have the “Chronicle” posted free through your letterbox. Local news I believe can be a bit more word of mouth and can become gossip when passed from person to person. These tend to be small issues that would not make the news regionally but may have impact on your life. So locally I do not believe I am informed at all.
Complicated decisions should not be left to others. In the past people have fought for the right to vote and be a part of a fair and equal nation in this world. So many people pay taxes, for example, into their country and have the right to be informed so they can make their own decisions. Being informed is up to them at the end of the day. The media is so wide and varied. If you choose to ignore it, you choose to not be informed. Maybe then these people should not make important decisions.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Al Gore - An Inconvenient Truth
The starting to the film, with the images of the Earth from space, had me watching instantly. Al Gore has a way with words and a bit of charisma. I thought i would enjoy this film at first, then gradually found the film too over the top with all the graphs he was showing. I do believe in global warming, and i am definately not a skeptic, but how can we know what is going to happen in hundreds of years time? This was the bit i found over the top. We do not even know what our summer will be like next year. I agree we can predict what may happen in the future by following trends, but why so far into the future?
He would of made more of an impact by talking about what may happen in 50 years time, for example. Especially with people my age because we will think oh my god we may be alive then. It is the younger generations who need to be educated about global warming as it is going to affect us. Also, who is to say there will not be a huge volcanic eruption in the future that will throw up loads of ash into the air and drop global temperatures? This will completely throw the debate on global warming out of the window. Nature may just follow its course like in the past with the little ice ages.
Al Gore should have focused on how we can do our own bit to help the planet and to not be shown sitting in a private jet and a big gas guzzling car. This was a bit hypocritical. I know he must be a busy man with many conferences etc. but he should use commercial airlines and a eco car if he wants to preach to us about global warming. He talked a bit too much about his personal life to create emotion and it did not make an impact on me. A bit of positive facts on how poeple are helping the planet and actively promoting solutions would have made an helped balance out the film.
From such a postive start to the film, i was surprised at how negative i felt towards Al Gore at the end of it. My opinion about global warming has not changed from watching this but i can understand why Al Gore has a big follwing and won a Nobel Peace Prize, even though i do not believe he deserved it.
He would of made more of an impact by talking about what may happen in 50 years time, for example. Especially with people my age because we will think oh my god we may be alive then. It is the younger generations who need to be educated about global warming as it is going to affect us. Also, who is to say there will not be a huge volcanic eruption in the future that will throw up loads of ash into the air and drop global temperatures? This will completely throw the debate on global warming out of the window. Nature may just follow its course like in the past with the little ice ages.
Al Gore should have focused on how we can do our own bit to help the planet and to not be shown sitting in a private jet and a big gas guzzling car. This was a bit hypocritical. I know he must be a busy man with many conferences etc. but he should use commercial airlines and a eco car if he wants to preach to us about global warming. He talked a bit too much about his personal life to create emotion and it did not make an impact on me. A bit of positive facts on how poeple are helping the planet and actively promoting solutions would have made an helped balance out the film.
From such a postive start to the film, i was surprised at how negative i felt towards Al Gore at the end of it. My opinion about global warming has not changed from watching this but i can understand why Al Gore has a big follwing and won a Nobel Peace Prize, even though i do not believe he deserved it.
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