Neighbours
When a new suburb, town or estate is established, planners must take a great deal of consideration for how neighbours will interact and the amount of community spirit it will produce. But the question is whether high community spirit and a high level of neighbourly interaction is desirable or needed in today's society as households become more independent and move further away from each other. This is a question that I ask after reading three famous studies by Michael Young and Peter Wilmott (1957), Lyn Richards (1990) and Mark Peel (2000) on neighbours and how they interact in different housing developments.All three readings discuss different aspects of neighbours and the connection between them, but the universal question that seemed to be attempted to be answered by all was what the causes of changes in neighbourly interaction were. Young and Willmott's classic study was conducted from 1953 to 1955 by taking a selection of working class families and residents from a borough in East London, Bethnal Green, and moved them to a new estate on the outer fringes of London, Greenleigh, to see how they interacted with their neighbours. Intriguing results ensued, which deserve further discussion. (They stated that they were not exp
* More money to have play, social activities and entertaining in one house. One of the first things that Richards notes is that the fence of the property suggests exclusiveness and a sense of belonging. Similar to what Young and Wilmott portrayed, when Richards asked the residents of the estate of what a good neighbour is, he heard this answer in various ways so often that he concluded it in one sentence, "There when you need them, but not in your pocket." I agree to that of what a good neighbour should be but if you asked a resident of Bethnal Green thirty years before this, I am sure the answer would have been very different or to a totally different degree. 'Being in your pocket' in the 1990s may have meant friendly visits from your neighbour once or twice a week, but in the 1950s in inner London, it may have meant visits from your neighbour once or twice a day! o The dream to have is a good neighbour who respects privacy.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Wilmotts Richards, Bethnal Green, Wilmott Richards, Bethnal Greeners, Richards Peel, Greenleigh Greenleigh, Mark Peel, , Richards' Peel's, London Greenleigh, community spirit, bethnal green, estate outer, wilmott richards, close friends, neighbours friends, neighbour neighbour, neighbourly interaction, neighbours close friends, peel 2000, neighbours close, visits neighbour twice, neighbour neighbour friend, estate outer fringes,
Approximate Word count = 1716
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
