Regeneration (Edexcel A Level Geography)

• The economic and social inequalities, that occur in different places, can affect people's perceptions of an area
• Perceptions are relative to people, place and time, for example in London:
• Wealthier people, who have a higher quality of life and more opportunities, may view London as exciting and enjoy the fast pace of life
• Poorer people, with a lower quality of life, may feel economically and socially trapped by London
• Inequality can make young people feel like however hard they work, they will be unable to break the cycle of inequality (unable to afford a house or get a well-paid job)
• Retired people may view London as too busy and look for other places which offer a slower pace of life

Successful places

• Successful places often experience a spiral of growth, which can be shown in the cumulative causation model
• Cumulative causation occurs when people move to a successful area to provide services for those already there
• This makes the area even more attractive to people and investors

Cumulative causation model

• Successful regions, such as the San Francisco Bay area, tend to be characterised by: 
• High rates of employment
• High rates of inward migration (both internal and international)
• Higher levels of income
• Low levels of multiple deprivation
• However, a wealthy and developing region can develop negative knock-on effects:
• High property prices
• Skills shortages in urban and rural areas e.g. teachers, healthcare workers
• Congestion of roads and public transport
• Strains on services, such as healthcare and education

• The growth of rural areas is usually on a smaller scale than urban areas
• Improvements in broadband coverage mean rural businesses can attract customers from greater distances
• Lots of growth in smaller and micro businesses (under 10 employees), such as artisan food, winery, beekeeping, dog boarding, micro-brewery
• Investments in mobile networks and high-speed broadband have allowed more people to work from home, regardless of their location

San Francisco - a successful place

• San Francisco is known as an international centre for commerce and innovation, particularly as a hub for the technology industry 
• IT and digital media companies, like Twitter and Dropbox, have their headquarters there
• There is also a large cluster of bioscience companies based there, which has fuelled job opportunities
• It has attracted highly educated migrants from across the USA, as well as Asia
• In 2019, 190,000 immigrants gained permission to work long-term in California, where San Francisco is located
• The multiplier effect is fuelled by its technological and transportation infrastructure, high quality of life and highly skilled workforce
• San Francisco is one of the wealthiest cities in the USA, with low unemployment levels of about 3% (Unemployment rate for the USA = 3.9%)
• However, there are large amounts of inequality:
• In San Francisco, the average income of the top 1% of households in the city averages $3.6 million, 44 times the average income of the bottom 99%
• The city is facing an affordability and housing crisis
• In 2015, 64,000 jobs were created but only 5,000 new homes were built
• The average house in San Francisco now costs over $1.25 million
• The arrival of tech companies has led to the gentrification of poorer neighbourhoods (e.g. Tenderloin) so that many existing residents can no longer afford to live there

• Some places experience a spiral of decline after economic restructuring due to a change in economic sectors.
• The spiral of decline is sometimes termed the negative multiplier effect
• It occurs in:
• Urban areas due to deindustrialisation, where factories close and unemployment increases
• Skilled, local people leave the area to find work, leaving behind the less skilled or older workers, who would be difficult to retrain
• Rural areas due to a decline in the primary sector (e.g. agriculture) or the mechanisation of farming, leading to unemployment
• Young people leave the area, leaving behind an ageing population
• Decline in rural services (e.g. post offices, banks, petrol stations) due to less demand
• Economic restructuring causes increased levels of social deprivation and a decline in:
• Job opportunities
• Education
• Health
• Crime
• Services 
• The living environment

The spiral of decline model

• Economic decline often leads to a social decline:
• Less investment in public services (healthcare, education)
• Unemployment can lead to depression and an increase in drug use
• Increased crime and anti-social behaviour
• It is difficult to break the spiral of decline and stop the area from declining without intervention e.g. regeneration strategies

The Rust Belt, USA

• The decline of the heavy manufacturing industry (deindustrialisation) in the USA’s Rust Belt began in the 1950s and led to higher levels of unemployment in the region:
• Cheaper imports increased 
• Manufacturing shifted south due to cheaper labour
• The increased automation of industrial processes
• Cities such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh shared several difficulties:
• Population loss - some cities lost more than 40% of their populations 
• Declining tax revenues
• Higher levels of unemployment - increased by 20%
• Limited opportunity for retraining
• Increased crime and drug use, especially among unemployed males

• Social and economic inequalities create a need for regeneration
• The role of regeneration is to reverse the spiral of decline and to create more equality through social and economic change 
• By regenerating an area, business opportunities occur, which improves the overall quality of life and wellbeing
• Key priorities for regeneration, due to the vast inequalities found there, include:
  • Sink estates
  • Declining rural settlements

• Other areas, such as gated communities and commuter villages have low levels of deprivation and are a low priority for regeneration

Regeneration priorities for four different places

• Areas that need regeneration can be found next to those that do not need it at all
• Rich, gated communities can be found right next to 'sink estates' in urban areas
• In rural areas, successful, wealthy commuter villages may be only a few miles away from less accessible rural villages suffering from population decline and service deprivation