City Road in Cardiff
TMA 01
City Road in Cardiff is home to a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and takeaways. But if you were to look beyond what is in plain sight you will see buildings, cars and many more material things that have a large influence on our social lives. During the course of this assignment there will be many examples of how these material things favour the activities of some groups of people over others. One example of a building that shows this is the MacIntosh Centre. Although it is located on City Road, it was stated by John Cooksley (Making Social Lives on City Road,2012, scene 7) , a tennis coach at the centre that is actually predominantly used by people out with the City Road area. As the main clientele are not from the local area it may give the impression to local people that they are not welcome and in turn may create a sense of indifference or inequality. Another example of diversity created, this time by the aesthetics of the MacIntosh Centre, is an issue of wealth. It was again stated by John Cooksley that because the building and surrounding area is contained by a large fence, the facilities may be considered to be private or expensive. Maybe again this gives the impression to people that it is not for them or that the facilities on offer would be out of their price range. Competition for space between motorists and pedestrians is a common issue on roads all over the world, and City Road is no exception. But material things such as bollards may favour the activities of pedestrians over that of the motorists. One way in which this could be the case is because of the placement of the bollards. Rodney Berman(Making social lives DVD, material lives, 2012), of Cardiff City Council states that the bollards are placed in specific locations to prevent cars from parking on the pavement. This of course will help to maintain a clear pathway on the pavement for pedestrians. This will allow easy usage for the public and perhaps more so for the
City Road in Cardiff is home to a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and takeaways. But if you were to look beyond what is in plain sight you will see buildings, cars and many more material things that have a large influence on our social lives. During the course of this assignment there will be many examples of how these material things favour the activities of some groups of people over others. One example of a building that shows this is the MacIntosh Centre. Although it is located on City Road, it was stated by John Cooksley (Making Social Lives on City Road,2012, scene 7) , a tennis coach at the centre that is actually predominantly used by people out with the City Road area. As the main clientele are not from the local area it may give the impression to local people that they are not welcome and in turn may create a sense of indifference or inequality. Another example of diversity created, this time by the aesthetics of the MacIntosh Centre, is an issue of wealth. It was again stated by John Cooksley that because the building and surrounding area is contained by a large fence, the facilities may be considered to be private or expensive. Maybe again this gives the impression to people that it is not for them or that the facilities on offer would be out of their price range. Competition for space between motorists and pedestrians is a common issue on roads all over the world, and City Road is no exception. But material things such as bollards may favour the activities of pedestrians over that of the motorists. One way in which this could be the case is because of the placement of the bollards. Rodney Berman(Making social lives DVD, material lives, 2012), of Cardiff City Council states that the bollards are placed in specific locations to prevent cars from parking on the pavement. This of course will help to maintain a clear pathway on the pavement for pedestrians. This will allow easy usage for the public and perhaps more so for the