The Concept of Neighborhood in Contemporary Residential Environments - Research Paper Example

Introduction 1.1 Background Community profiling helps to understand the diversity of the community and this helps to tailor subsequent activities to a variety of stakeholders and their groups (Love, Boxelaar, O’Donnell & Francis, 2007). A community profile can be seen as documenting the contextual knowledge of a community which helps to define sensible directions for suitable action. Community profiling has been defined as a tool that aids practitioners to collect and make use of the data about a community (Love, Boxelaar, O’Donnell & Francis, 2007). It helps to understand the diversity of stakeholders and issues in communities. It has also been defined as “a comprehensive description of the needs of a population ...and the resources that exist within that community, carried out with the active involvement of the community itself...."(Hawtin and Percy-Smith, 2007 cited in Teater & Baldwin, 2009). According to CIA (2008) a community profile is a summary of the history, present conditions, and anticipated future of an area. Community profiles can also contain data about crime, transport, health status and community service available. Through information about attitudes, perceptions of community cultural and historical character, it is also possible to determine the strengths, current issues, barriers, or changes in the profile (Love, Boxelaar, O’Donnell & Francis, 2007). Neighbourhood is the vicinity in which people live; it is the immediate social and physical environment in which people dwell (Berk, 2002). It also describes a socially distinguished area depending on residents’ perception. In the neighbourhood people interact for utility such as grocery stores, schools recreational parks, medical clinics (Lebel, Pampalon & Villeneuve, 2007). They also support or provide mutual aid in addition to interacting for pure socialization, thereby creating bond between individuals. Neighbourhood is the space in which people move around carrying on with their social and economic activities. This built environment contributes to one’s identity. Neighbourhood gradually becomes a reflection of one’s self, one’s values and aspirations and of the socioeconomic conditions. Keyham is one of the 39 neighbourhoods in Plymouth. It had a total population of 5718 as of 2011 of which male and female percentage was equal (Public Health Plymouth, 2013). 1.2 Rationale for the Study Only one percent of the total population was aged over 85 years but 18.3% of the population was claiming some form of benefit which is above the city-wide figure of 17.3 percent (Public Health Plymouth, 2013). The claimants for jobseekers allowance (4.7%) was also above the city-wide figure of 3.8 percent. In addition, the mortality rate is higher and life expectancy lower, than the city-wide average figures thereby suggesting social and healthcare concern in the community. 1.3 Aims and Objectives With the aim to familiarize with the development of contemporary social policy in relation to social and health care, the aim of the study is to investigate if the concept of ‘community’ and neighbourhood actually persists in Plymouth (Keyham). The purpose is to evaluate the strengths of the community and identify if they have respect for the values and perspectives of other members of the community. This would help develop a community needs assessment. . 2.0 Methodology Community profiling does not necessarily involve collection of fresh data. The existing data can be compiled and synthesized to generate new understanding as per requirement. Since the focus on the study is social and healthcare, data pertaining to these two issues have been gathered through both primary and secondary sources. Data has been obtained through the official website of the Plymouth region, through government sources and through internet sites accessed through reputed search engines. All citations have been provided. Primary data was obtained through interview conducted of the members of the community. 3.0 Findings Findings from both secondary and primary sources have been presented and the discussion and analysis will be held in the next section. 3.1 Secondary Data Keyham, located next to the River Tamar, is a diverse neighbourhood with a strong community spirit (Keyham Leaflet, 2011). As the Dockyard dominates the waterfront, the neighbourhood has no links with the river. Most of the housing is located in the western part of the neighbourhood. The houses are in the form of terraces and the occupants are mostly owners. The households are mainly families with children with very few singles staying in the neighbourhood. Keyham has a neighbourhood team which is based in the community at Devonport Police Office (Devon & Cornwall Police, 2012). The neighbourhood beat manager is assisted by Police Community Support Officers. The aim of the team is to make Keyham a better place to live in, to resolve issues affecting the quality of life of the people. The team claims to work with the local council to make the community safer, to maintain regular contact with the residents and to improve relations between the police and the residents. This website also provides emergency and non-emergency phone numbers. However, despite such claims the neighbourhood has several social and health issues that are yet to be resolved. 3.1.1 Social Issues Several issues are barriers to the development of the region. For instance, local shops are closing down as the population is too low to support these shops (Keyham Leaflet, 2011). The Camel’s Head is the local sewerage and the smell that emanates from it is disturbing for the residents. The only source of employment in the region is the Dockyard. There is no Post Office in the region and the residents have to walk to work. The minutes of the quarterly meetings of the neighbourhood Keyham suggests that problems persist without the members of the community being able to provide solutions. For instance, despite the local police monitoring the situation (Plymouth, 2012a), the youth in Keyham appear to park on the streets and resort to drinking. Anti-social behaviour has also been reported in the football park beside the KPG centre. The youth engage in continued late night kicking of football thereby disturbing the neighbourhood (Plymouth, 2012). The team also confesses that they have not been able to control underage drinking, criminal damage and general nuisance despite patrolling the hotspots (Devon & Cornwall Police, 2012). As far as traffic issues are concerned, people ignore one-way signs in and around the residential areas increasing the likelihood of road accidents, affecting not just the drivers but the pedestrians as well. In addition, large lorries enter the neighbourhood early in the morning causing nuisance in unloading and noise pollution. Litter and waste disposal is another menace affecting the community. Residents are disturbed the way waste is left on the streets even after teams collect waste for recycling. Sewage leakage persists for even over twelve months. The youth engage in criminal activities which makes the residents feel threatened and uncomfortable in their own homes. Violence, burglary, robbery and other criminal and anti-social behaviour is quite common in Keyham as can be seen in the image below: Chart 3.1 Crime Breakdown Source: UK CrimeStats (2012) The level of crime and the impact that crime makes depends upon health status, economic conditions, age, ethnicity and disability. 3.1.2 Health concerns Keyham has much higher rate of heart disease than other areas in Plymouth (BHF, n.d.). British Heart Foundation has set up Hearty Lives Plymouth in partnership with NHS Plymouth to improve the heart health of these communities. This initiative trains the community to cook and eat for a healthy heart apart from conducting free fitness and heart lifestyle assessments. The aim is to reduce the rate of heart diseases and strokes. Health concerns are fairly large in Keyham, evident from the IMD score of 30, where Keyham ranks as 15th most deprived neighbourhood among the 39 neighbourhoods of Plymouth (Public Health Plymouth, 2013). High deprivation rates suggest that material resources are less and there is a greater need for healthcare. This lowers the capacity to cope with the consequences of ill-health. Deprivation can arise from low level of education, inadequate housing, unemployment leading to low income levels and poor health. 3.2 Primary Data Face-to-face interview was conducted with Sandy at KPG centre, Renound Street, Keyham. The interview brought out details about the neighbourhood such as about the Playgroups and Churches. For instance, there are several Playgroups such as Pelican on Saltash Rd and Get up and Go on Wolsley Rd, in addition to a nursery attached to Drake Primary school. There exists Sure start centre at Morrise Town but it works mainly with PACL’s (Plymouth Adults and Community Learning). Churches such as St Thomas Church and Keyham Community Methodist Church are on Admiralty Street. There are several groups that are active in the neighbourhood including Friends of Alexandra Park (voluntary), Plym win, Plymouth Transitional Group, DIG (Dump Information Group), Wolsley Trust and Activ8 in Beacon Park. There are several groups for adults with disabilities. Activities such as singing for fun, children’s parties and arts and crafts, and helping people with personal development are carried out at these centres. Keyham is now able to access funding from Devonport. While these suggest the activities carried out in the community, the interview also revealed that very few local people get involved in community work. In addition, anti-social behaviour is prevalent and theft of laptops is common. The area has no public toilets while to manage nuclear waste and reduce pollution incinerators are being built. Traffic congestion is high in the area and housing prices are expected to fall in the area, as per the interview. The above findings are being represented below through a poster. Chart 3.2 Poster Presentation Paste the Poster here Sources included in the Reference Section 4.0 Synthesis The data gathered through different sources suggests a gap in the services provided by the neighbourhood team. According to Devon & Cornwall Police (2012) the neighbourhood police team is monitoring the roads to ensure that residents do not ignore the one-way signs as it has increased the number of accidents. Following a speed monitoring operation all they did was to stop the motorbike, take down the driver details and pass on advice. No firm action is being taken perhaps to maintain a sense of community. They report stray incidents where they stopped the taxi driver or the motorbike driver but such actions have not really helped to improve the situation. While social groups do exist in the neighbourhood they are unable to positively impact the youth. No action has been reported for taking care of issues surrounding the older people such as lack of public toilets or inadequate transport facilities. 5.0 Discussions Community profiling helps investigate into and understand the way of life of people. The term “community” traditionally refers to a place-based physical setting in which basic human needs are met and primary relationships maintained (Mehrhoff, 1999 cited in Li, 2008). At Keyham basic human needs such as public toilets, transport, and sanitation facilities are lacking. Community activities influence social-cultural and economic activities and these in turn are expected to contribute to the resolution of problems and the impacts due to economic development. However, no economic development appears to be taking place in Keyham and lack of development has forced local shops to shut down. Neighbourhood is a collection of people and institutions that occupy some space conditioned by the same ecological, cultural and political forces. Hence a sense of cohesiveness should develop among the members. Being a part of the neighbourhood leads to a sense of belonging but this does not appear to be the case among the residents of Keyham. To foster a sense of belonging and community, there should be a clear-cut boundary that denotes inscape and outscape. Internal support system becomes necessary when the location is remote and with limited transport facility. The authorities at Plymouth and the team in Keyham claim to be making the facilities available but the members of the neighbourhood would be forced to seek facilities outside their neighbourhood if the same situation persists. Self-policing is considered the best way to keep order in a contemporary society. The neighbourhood residents should willingly engage in criminal and deviant behaviour in Keyham. This is based on the concept that an individual would pay attention to the rational self or the ethical self and would not like to feel ashamed for not complying with the norms of self-policing (Somerville, 2009). People would then be more concerned with protecting and enhancing one’s sense of self-esteem. This can be termed an informal social control. Keyham does not appear to have gangs and hence self-policing can be implemented. The youth that is engaging in underage drinking and other anti-social behaviour should be urged in self-policing. As of now the police in the neighbourhood are unable to resolve the issues; once self-policing is implemented, community policing would be easier. It would then be easier to establish relations between the police and the public and handle the issues that are currently difficult to resolve in Keyham. The findings from the community information suggest that community feeling, sense of neighbourhood is an absolute necessity in Keyham. As of now none of these prevail in this neighbourhood as the members are least concerned about the welfare of others. The administrative team, including the police, is unable to resolve issues such as controlling the smell from the Camel’s Head. 6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations A social policy should be a positive instrument of change but a policy for change does not appear to be implemented in Keyham. People do not live with a sense of belonging. They are fragmented with no concern for other members of the neighbourhood. Human well being would require focusing on the social, political and economic processes. It appears that no focus on these issues has been given in the Keyham neighbourhood. Keyham lacks basic facilities needed for a decent way of life but the region being underdeveloped, people have few opportunities for growth. The area lacks development, has no Post Office and no sports facilities. However, need assessment can be made based on the findings of the study. As of now, the members of Keyham have no community feeling and no respect for the values and perspectives of other members of the community. The first and foremost is the need to increase population in the area. People would be attracted once some form of development takes place and basic facilities are made available. Hence, infrastructure is an issue that can be handled only at the administrative level. Building a Post Office itself would generate employment. Plenty of green area is available which can be used for growth and development. While not all the green area should be used, but a shopping centre would add to the basic requirements for the people. Education level appears to be poor which prompts the youth to engage in different forms of anti-social activities. Apart from formal education, this also needs to be handled through mentoring and through workshops. The youth have to learn to love and respect themselves; they need to be encouraged for self-policing. This would then lead community policing to work for the betterment of the neighbourhood. Health facilities are also poor in Keyham and the residents have to travel to other neighbourhoods. Some health facilities within the neighbourhood would not only cause development but generate employment as well. Keyham has a Dockyard and plenty of green land lying vacant. Both these should be used for the development of the neighbourhood. Word Count: 2546 References: Berk, GM., 2002. The Concept of Neighbourhood in Contemporary Residential Environments: An Investigation of Occupants’ Perception. Available at: http://mpra.ub.uni- muenchen.de/22481/1/Conference_paper_Berk_1_.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2013] BHF., (n.d) Hearty Lives Plymouth. Available at: http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/how-we-can-help/in-your-area/hearty-lives/plymouth.aspx [Accessed 9 February 2013] CIA., (2008) Community Impact Assessment: A Quick Reference for Transportation. Available at: http://www.ciatrans.net/CIA_Quick_Reference/Chapter3.html [Accessed 9 February 2013] Devon & Cornwall Police., (2012) Welcome to Keyham. Available at: http://neighbourhoodpolicing.devon-cornwall.police.uk/BCU-1632/Sector-1861/NB-1654/Pages/default.aspx [Accessed 9 February 2013] Keyham Leaflet, (2011) KEYHAM Sustainable neighbourhood development plan. Available at: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/keyham_leaflet.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2013] Lebel, A., Pampalon, R. & Villeneuve, P.Y., (2007) A multi-perspective approach for defining neighbourhood units in the context of a study on health inequalities in the Quebec City region. International Journal of Health Geographics. Available at: http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/6/1/27/ [Accessed 9 February 2013] Li, HL., (2008) The physical environment and a "sense of neighborhood" in residential communities in Hong Kong. Property Management, 26 (1), 7 - 24 Love, S., Boxelaar, L., O’Donnell, J. & Francis, J., (2007) Community Profiling: From Technique to Reflective Practice in Community Engagement for Natural Resource Management. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 13 (3), 177-189 Plymouth., (2012) Note of Neighbourhood Meeting & Priorities. Available at: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/nhkeyham251012.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2013] Plymouth., (2012a) Note of Neighbourhood Meeting & Priorities. Available at: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/nhkeyham160812.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2013] Public Health Plymouth., (2013) Area Profile Keyham Neighbourhood. Available at: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/nhpkeyham.pdf [Accessed 9 February 2013] Sommerville, P., (2009) Understanding community policing. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 32 (2), 261-277 Teater, B. & Baldwin, M., (2009) Exploring the Learning Experiences of Students Involved in Community Profiling Projects. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 28 (7), 778-791 UK CrimeStats., (2012) Keyham. Available at: http://www.ukcrimestats.com/Neighbourhood/Devon_and_Cornwall_Constabulary/Keyham [Accessed 9 February 2013] References for poster – SCW 292 Carewatch., (2012) Older people. [Online] Available at: http://www.care-watch.com/older-people (Accessed: 27 November 2012). Carey, D., (2012) Information on Keyham. Hooper, K. Plymouth Methodist Mission Circuit. 23 November. Elder Tree Group., (2012) Hooper, K, Shotbi, O., KGP Centre. 8 November. Halifax, D., (2012) Item 1 and 3. Note of Neighbourhood Meeting & Priorities 25.10.12. Have your say. KGP Centre, Renown Street, Keyham. Plymouth., (2020) Local strategic partnership (2008) Keyham neighbourhood profile 2008 (South West Locality). Available at: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/nhpkeyham.pdf (Accessed: 22 November 2012). Plymouth Data., (2012) Plymouth blitz – The April Raids. Available at: http://www.plymouthdata.info/Second%20World%20War-1941-Blitz2.htm (Accessed 2 December 2012). Sandy (2012) Shaw, S, Hooper, K, Pittman, K, Shotbi, O and Williams, K., KGP centre. 16 October. Shaw, S., (2012) KGP centre and road. [photograph] Keyham. Shaw, S., (2012) Memorial stone at park in Keyham. [photograph] Keyham. Read More