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What's in a place? - Coggle Diagram
What's in a place?
What is a place?
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"Place can be described in the extent to which human beings have given meaning to a specific area" - Tuan, 1977
Place is a meaningful site that combines location ('where'), locale (the material setting) and a sense of place (feelings & emotions the place evokes)
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Romsey
Median house price = £425,000
Owner housing = 47.3%
Private rented = 37%
Social housing = 23.8%
Economically active = 77%
Full time students = 9%
People with no qualifications as % of working age population = 11%
0-15o = 16.3%
16-64yo = 74.5%
65+yo = 9.2%
Terraced % = 53.2%
Early Romsey:
- railway & station location left to urbanisation of Mill Rd (second half 19thc)
- railway replaced river Cam as transport link & provided employment
- before railway in 1845, Mill Rd was a track across fields
- origin of Romsey in Enclosure acts of 1800s, dismantled fields and many used for housing (1885-1895), street pattern follows old field boundaries
- victorian street pattern, close community, strengthen by employment
- characteristics similar to mining village
- railway defined Mill Rd, Mill Road Bridge 'gateway' to Romsey town
- strong sense of community
- didn't develop until late 19thc
- victorian working class housing
Key Dates:
2008 - Mosque built
- raising funds, opening in Dec 2019, 3 year build, cost £24m, £16m from Turkey
1845 - Railway
Between 1885-1895 - Most houses built
- high density terrace housing
1981 - GIA
- improve properties, start of gentrification
Shifting flows
Shifting flows of people & ideas
- only way to Camp from Romsey over railway by foot
- working class left, middle class joined (higher paid professionals, often London commuters)
- large student population, 9%, less in community, transient population
- mosque attracted visitors & people of islamic faith
Shifting flows of resources, money & investment
- urbanisation in late 19th century
- railway came
- high density terraced housing turned into castles & luxury homes
- Infectious diseases hospital now Brookfields
- general improvement area improving properties, urbanisation & gentrification
- no more fields
- Cambridge central mosque, donations, £26 million
- 20 year period between 1991 -> 2011 census, 20% increase in private renting, money to landlords that dont necessarily live in area
Romsey is a palimpsest, many road names linking to the British Empire e.g. Saint Phillips Road & The Empress pub
The Bridge:
- Mill Road was a cut de sac ending at a footpath to Cherry Hinton until the building of Perne Road in 1930s
- only way into Camp centre from Romsey used to be by foot over railway bridge (people saw eachother regularly, sense of community)
Romsey today:
- Mill Road still spine of Romsey & brings both side of the road (shops serve local residents)
- different community to 'Little Russia' but residents from that area still live there and remains strong sense of community (shaped by the railway, terraced houses and shared facilities on Mill Rd)
- fields come but green spaces still surround
- social composition changed
- last 40y seen working class in retreat
- middle class move due to run down & cheaper than rest of Camp (70s & 80s)
- house prices rising due to local housing shortage & easy railway access (young, higher paid professions, often London commuters, living there)
Red Romsey:
- railway, not uni, so dominated by employment
- 'Railway Town', 'Little Russia'
- Romsey resented uni privileges and elected Labour councillors
- got nicknames in 1926 General Strike after many residents joined and protested against wage cuts
- The Labour Club built by voluntary labour, spirit of cooperation
Housing:
- high density terrace housing
- Romsey House, original houses from 1840 (was a farm but converted to Neo-tudor mansion in late 19thc)
- bay windows gave houses status
- cenulations turned terraced house into a castle
Public buildings:
- Brookfileds hospital, former Insolation Hospital for Infectious Diseases
- edge of countryside, 1893 plaque above door, glading stones
General Improvement Area:
- 1981
- by 1970 many victorian houses still without modern facilities & deteriorating due to poor maintenance
- young families moved out of Camp to new, larger housing and old properisitsed demolished was proposed
- but, Came City Council & local residents worked to introduced a GSA (improve properties & public realm, giving new vitality)
- start of gentrification
Romsey recreation ground:
- much needed open space breaking up terrace housing
- route for many residents
- opened in 1915
Cambridge central mosque:
- opened dec 2019
- started raising funds in 2008, purpose to create eco mosque for Cambs 6000 muslims
- took 3 years to build, cost £24m (10,000 donations, £16m from Turkey)
Political environment:
- labour strong hold that wants to "ungentify" Romsey + increase greenspace
Romsey Census 1991 vs 2011
- privately rented 18->37%, owner 61->47%
- economically active 68-77%
- unemployment 8-2%
- highest age grounp 16-64, 70-75%, 65+ 15->9%, 0-15 15->16%
- terraced housing still highest butt decreased 60->54%
Newnham
Early
- linked to Cambridge by bridges & fords over the Cams channels
- road to Granchester
- Cambridge was an inland port
- course of river moved East to accommodate unis with growing importance
- Cambridge station going to be at Mill Pond, unis stopped this and put it at Hills Rd
- mills followed and river trade died out
1871 - founding of Newnham college (women's only)
- brings people that wanted to study
1882 - College fellows could keep fellowship after marriage
- began to live outside colleges (like monasteries) so Newnham grew
Late 19th century - enclosure of Cambridge fields, Newnham croft built
- borough of Cambridge 1911
- Newnham separate parish 1918
1925 - Lammas Land became public
- fields turned into a park
2000 - West Cambridge site constructed
- cost £36 million
Key Dates: 1871, 1882, 1925, 2000
West Cambridge site:
2002 - William H Gates building open
2004 - staff accomodation
2006 - £14m electrical engineering division opened
- funding unis brings money from students & tourists
Newnham Croft:
- largely developed artisan housing between late 19thc and WW1
- mile SW of centre of Cambridge
- includes college buildings & open spares
- streets of 2 story Victorian/Edwardian terraced houses
Fen Causeway & Coe Fen:
- causeway built in late 1920s
- links to Trumpington & city centre
- Art Deco buildings in 1930s, Buildings of Local Intrest
- coe fen, semi-rural meadowland once for commercial activity
- liable to flooding so suitable for cow grazing
- by 19thc fen boggy & drained, semi natural area
Lots of land in Newnham is uni owned. Buildings are also reused, so varied architecture e.g. CU Library build on former military hospital site. Many large spacious buildings that are detached are flanked by uni buildings
Lammas Land & Paradise Nature Reserve:
- Lammas Land formed from fields, turned into park 1925, former 1920s toilets now a bicycle repairs shop
- large paddling pool
- Paradise 2.2 hectare nature reserve owned & managed by Cambridge city council
- wet woodland, marshland & mature willows
Shifting flows
Shifting flows of people & ideas
- Cambridge station meant to be at Mill Pond but wasn't due to unis, kept people away
- 1882 fellows allowed to live outside
- increase in uni students (most flat housing, renters)
- less unemployment
- less old people
- LibDem stronghold since 1996
- famous people live/d here like Steven Hawking
- college have famous Alumni e.g. Sylvia Plath
- STEM subjects co-locate with industry partners sharing ideas more freely e.g. West Cambridge Site
Shifting flows of resources, money & investment
- more people renting means more money for landlords
- unis funded immensely meaning more students / tourists come to area
- Newnham Croft built houses & colleges (19thc-WW1)
- Fen Causeway housing & links to city centre, Buildings of Local Interest (late 1920s)
- Coe Fen no longer commercial, now cow grazing (19thc)
- Lammas Land field turned into park 1925
- Paradise council owned nature reserve
- buildings / cites reused to save money
- less spacious buildings
- protect recycling points in Lammas Land
- uni owns most of land in ward, increasing as more unis open
- most investing in ward comes from uni funding engineering building, cost £36m
- buildings increase employment for researchers, scientists & admin positions
- Uni sports centre (2013) cost £16m, local people allowed private membership, benefit from investment
Politics:
- LibDem stronghold since 1996
- Newnham councillors oppose Cambourne to Cambridge Busway down Adams Road
- protect recycling points like one recently closed on Lammas land
Median house price = £830,000
Owner housing = 54.9%
Private rented = 32.7%
Social housing = 17.7%
Economically active = 34%
Full time students = 60.7%
People with no qualifications as % of working age population = 2%
0-15yo – 10.7%
16-64yo – 78.7%
65+yo - 10.8%
Flats % = 38.7%
Newnham Census 1991 vs 2011
- privately rented 25->33%, owner 60->55%
- economically active 46->34% (possibly due to uni students)
- unemployment 5->4%
- highest age group remains people aged 16-64 (increased by 10%), young & old both decreased
- flat housing now highest 39%, possibly due to uni accommodation
Cambridge through time
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1209 - Cambridge University founded
- Daniel Defoe, early 18th century, Cambridge trade relies on work and jobs from unis & colleges
- lots of land is still owned by them
- rich universities
1800s - Enclosure acts
- land privatised, forcing people into cities as they lost their farming jobs
- town expanded
1845 - Railway reaches Cambridge
- easier transport for supplies and people
- more expansion of town
1980 - First business park opens
- employment & investment outside of Cambridge
2010s:
2011 - guided busway launched
2017 - Cambridge North station opens
- increased connectivity of Cambridgeshire as a whole
Cambs has a rich and diverse physical setting with beautiful architecture, historic buildings , open public spaces and riverside locations
Cambridge promotes itself as one of the most significant technology clusters in Europe with 19 science and business parks revenues of £13 billion and around 4000 knowledge intensive firms
With a strong sense of place, Cambridge attracts financial investments and people. Recently, Hauwei developed a £1.3 billion centre of excellence & AstraZeneca built a £30 million global research headquarters. More money invested in Cambridge at anytime since Victorian age. Property prices now twice national average due to this, affordable housing increasingly difficult.
Places as palimpsests
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Cambridge as a palimpsest:
Round Church Street
- street names stay the same
- some old buildings (round church) remain
- new roads / buildings in place
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