Social Impact Of Studentification On The Grove Ward (Kingston-Upon-Thames)
The grove ward in Kingston-upon-Thames has been subject to a change in culture over the past few years as a result of the inflow of students in this urbanised area. I plan to identify the positive and negative social impacts studentification has caused in the grove ward and evaluate the weight of these impacts. A range of factors can be looked at when identifying the impact of studentification and I will be looking at them during my investigation to ultimately answer my investigation title, “To what extent has studentification, socially impacted the Grove ward, Kingston-Upon-Thames?” The general idea is to investigate social impacts with statistical evidence such as crime and different age conflicts which occur in these areas; I will also delve into economic impacts which comes with the rapid culture shift. Through both primary and secondary research I will be able to accurately analyse studentification and thus will help me answer my 3 sub-questions to a degree of relevance.
This information will be obtained through the use of my many methods such as: traffic flows, soundscaping and statistical evidence to name a few. From my wider reading I have established that areas of studentification often have traffic troubles and a higher level of anti-social behaviour, deterring the older age groups from living in these areas with statistical evidence implying that crime is also higher in areas with have be studentifed, therefore if my data supports these figures then studentification has negatively impacted the Grove Ward in Kington-Upon-Thames. I strongly believe the grove ward in Kingston-upon-Thames is a suitable area for my investigation as there is a university and college in the ward, thus making it an area heavily populated with students. My 3 sub questions will assist me in getting a more detailed analysis on the impact of studentification on the grove ward.
They consist of:
- Is the likelihood of crime or anti-social behaviour increased in areas of studentification?
- What are the economic impacts of studentification?
- Are there any social tensions with studentification in terms of social cohesion?
I am going to hypothesise that there are social tensions and a high level of antisocial behaviour taking place in this area which will be used to test the significance of sub question 1 and 3. This is a justified hypothesis which I gained form my wider research on the topic, leading me to believe that there is at least an impact of these claims. Section B- Field methodologies and data collectionFor the primary data collection I gathered a variety of qualitative and quantitative data methods to ultimately help answer my investigation title and 3 sub questions that I have prepared, such as: a residential quality survey which I will gather 50 surveys to gain a large amount of information on my chosen topic. To do this I will be using random sampling to the survey to the people of grove ward; conducted at 1pm and 4pm to get a broad amount of data. Moreover this data will help me get an insight of the local’s opinion about studentification and the impact it is having on their lives (this strategy links to sub question 3). Another qualitative method I will use in my investigation is a mood meter as it will show me the emotions the people in grove ward are feeling to get an overview of the local moral. This will be conducted in 3 different locations (outside the accommodation site, Surbiton high street and outside the university) at 1pm-2pm.
Once again I used random sampling to get a fair result. My final primary qualitative method is a crime prevention map which will help me look at the level of crime in the grove ward and I will compare months in which the students are at university and when there are at home to see if studentification causes a negative social impact (this links directly to sub question 1)In terms of quantitative data I will conduct traffic flows to gather data on the level of cars passing in 2 different locations (Surbiton road and the A308 bridge) at 3 different times (1pm, 3pm, and 7pm) thus giving me an extensive amount of data. Moreover this data will help me answer my 3rd sub question, “Are there any social tensions with studentification in terms of social cohesion” as it will indicate if traffic levels are high suggesting that there are a lot of students driving around; the traffic may disrupt the local residents. To answer my sub questions I’m going to measure the level of noise pollution by soundscaping. This will be done in 3 different locations at 3 different times and will help to test the level of noise pollution caused by residents and students.
As a result I am able to answer sub question 1 and 3 to a good level of accuracy. For the sounscaping I will need to use a digital sound noise level metre in order to test the level of noise pollution. To measure my secondary data I have gathered information form the health and crime statistics on the grove ward which I will analyse to come to an educated conclusion. Also I have researched a vast amount of data on population density and collected data from the Kingston council website as this will help me get an overview of the crime levels and student population.
Risk assessment
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The sampling size for my primary data collection has been gathered at various different times, places and days so I get a wide range of accurate data and thus I can eliminate any anomalous result which could harm the reliability of my investigation. For my traffic flow I have recorded my data at 2 different locations (Surbiton road and the A308 Bridge), at 3 times of the day (1pm, 4pm, 7pm). The data I collected was for 15 minutes at each time and location. This also applies for my mood meter which I undertook at 3 locations (outside the accommodation of Kingston University, Surbiton high street and outside the university) between 1pm-2pm. I decided to use 25 people per location in the grove ward. Moreover I used the same technique for my soundscaping which was taken at 3 locations and at 3 times of the day.
Finally I conducted 50 residential quality surveys which I will analyse to see the viewpoint of the residents. The field equipment I used where: sound meter app, pen, paper and a clipboard. In my residential quality survey I used a variety of open and closed questions as to get more informative data but made the questions optional so they residents felt comfortable. Section C- Data Presentation and AnalysisFor my data presentation and analysis I’m going to prompt my data collected in numerous ways to create an easy read and keep it from going stale whilst maintaining relevant information in my graphs. The data which I collected was very helpful for me to answer my many questions on this subject such as the crime prevention mapping, traffic flows and mood meter to get an overall view.
These tables show the traffic level of 2 places in the grove ward where the majority of the population is students. From the table I can infer that traffic levels are the worst at 4pm (rush hour) at both locations compared to the other times. At 4pm there are 89 cars at Surbiton road compared to the 66 cars at 1pm. This is also the case at the A308 Bridge which had the most cars at 91 and the most busses. As a result of the high traffic levels (which was evident during the conduction of my data) residents may get angry by the level of cars in the road. This links to the level of students driving around in their vehicle as they may have just finished college or university. Therefore this level of traffic could lead to a lower quality of life and lower moral in the area if the traffic is constant 7 days a week.
Moreover this may lead to social tensions between students and the older residents of the grove ward thus the likelihood of crime or anti-social behaviour increases. However this depends on whether students are the main cause of the traffic and car accidents. The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16-19-year-olds than among any other age group. Teen drivers are nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash. The high levels of risk associated with young drivers are likely to as a result of inexperience, and the age of the young car driver. This may also be a factor in causing social tensions as the older drivers are frustrated by the car crash rate (This links to sub-question 3). This graph illustrates the crimes committed in the grove ward in July 2018 which was at a substantial 369 crimes. This suggests that the crime figure is very high in this area of students leading me to believe that the inflow of students in the grove ward has increased the crime level. 58 of the 369 in July were anti-social behaviour offences which is mainly caused by younger adults/students. As a result the crime level is increased and this figure links to my first sub question “Is the likelihood of crime or anti-social behaviour increased in areas of studentification?” which can be implied that it has caused an increase. Moreover 88 crimes have been committed in the location of the university and a further 7 outside the accommodation of the university. I can infer that these crimes are committed by university students, therefore resembling a bad image for the culture of the area. From my primary investigation data collection I found out that there are 7 cameras at the university and the accommodation suggesting that illegal crimes are being conducted making the council having to monitor student’s behaviour from the cameras. Overall from the crime rate and heavily camera operated area I can come to an idea that the inflow of student has negatively impacted the grove ward from the data presented.
On the contrary this map looks at the crime total in January 2018 which added up to a sum of 397 crimes. I have decided to use January as the month becasue it’s the time where students are in college and university. This is compared to july where students are as home or on holiday and thus will inform me of the crime rates when students are in the area and out. This figure of 397 is more than July which had 369, suggesting that when students are in the area crime rates are higher. On the one hand this could be the students causing the crimes due to there being 45 counts of anti social behaviour. As a result there Is a clear correlation between crime levels and how heavily populated an area is with students. This leads me to my sub-question 1 which looks at the likelyhood of anti-social behaviour in increased areas of studentification. Therefore I can come to a fair judgement that the crime rates are higher due to the inpact and influnece of the students.
However the higher crime rate could be linked with social tensions of the students bavck in the grove ward and not just the students, meaning that this evidence is storng but not conclusive. This secondary piece of data which I collected shows the crime rate of the grove ward compared to others wards in the country. There is a visible difference between the wards leading me to believe that the inflow of students has directly impacted the crime rates of the grove ward. As a result this implies studentification has negatively impacted the ward. This radar graph shows some of the important information/questions I gained from the residential quality survey and is the average score from the 50 people surveyed rounded to the nearest number.
The range is between 0 -10; 10 being satisfied. I can infer from the graph that the residents I surveyed were not satisfied with the general culture of the students as it was averaged at 4 out of 10. This suggests that there are some social tensions between the 2 age groups as the grading implies. On the other hand the residents scored a 7/10 for the general social happiness, meaning that although there are some tensions the residents are happy socially with the area. Therefore, the residents may feel as if there is a general happy culture even though the students have caused anti-social behaviour. Another question was if the level of anti-social behaviour has increased where the residents scored it a 7/10 again. This implies that residents have a strong opinion on the rising level of crime and believe that students play a big part in this. This question helps me answer my third sub question as it links to the idea of social tensions in the society. By the residents giving such a high average it is clear that there are social tensions to an extent. To conclude the residential quality survey has suggested that the social happiness is present in the grove ward but there is a correlation between anti-social behaviour and students. Another primary data collecetion I gathered was a mood map so I can get a general insight of on the feelings and energy levels of the residents; suggesting how the level of quality of life is to an extent.
The graph suggests that in location 1 the mood is pleasant with high energy which makes sense as it is outside the accommodation. Also it could infer that the students bring an energetic culture over to the grove, resulting in social happiness for the students. In location 2 there is a mix correlation with mainly low energy and a range of unpleasant and pleasant people. This could be due to the fact that the people on Surbiton high street are tired from work. As a result this may cause a negative social environment which links to my investigation title of social impact. However this may not be from students as other factors go into this. From location 3 (outside the university) I can infer that the correlation is very mixed again with a portion who looked unpleasant with low energy and pleasant people with low energy.
The majority of the people surveyed where students and the level of unpleasant feelings may be a driving factor in the negative perception of students. Therefore if the students are unhappy crime may be an option which leads to conflicts. “By a transitory population of young people who aren’t interested in tending the gardens or cutting the hedges. Moreover they keep odd hours, throw late night parties and spend much of their time elsewhere… some streets resemble slums; the roads are potholed and litter-strewn, the grass uncut and the fences broken (the independent 2004, page 11)” This quote emphasises the negative aspect of studentification may be a reason why existing residents are feeling unpleasant and unhappy. As a result, during the term time, residents may feel as if the students have negatively impacted the area and thus could look to move elsewhere, outside of the area.
