Is There a Variation in Nottingham's CBD Framework? Essay example

Submitted By piddy12
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Pages: 5

Fieldwork write-up
Introduction:
The overall aim and purpose of the day was to consider the question; is there variation within in the CBD? The hypothesis that we had tested was: There is a distinct core and frame within Nottingham’s CBD. For this hypothesis we had split Nottingham’s CBD into 4 transects; North, East, South and West. Then we had split one of these sections into 5 subdivisions (e.g. the South transect would be split into; S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5). In these subdivisions we had to measure building height, land use functions and environmental quality. We were also split up into 44 groups and had been allocated a set area to count the number of pedestrians. Our hypothesis was that there is a distinct core and frame in the CBD, so measuring the building height would tell us how much the land is - as if it was a tall building that would tell us that the cost of land is very high in that area, however if the building covered a lot of land we could infer that the cost of land wouldn’t be as pricey. I would expect the buildings on the frame to be large and take up a lot of land and I would expect the buildings in the CBD to be quite tall but not take up much room. I would expect this due to the fact that buying land close to the CBD would be more expensive as it would be closer and quicker to get to for people who lived just outside of the CBD, therefore land will be more expensive closer to the central business district. The land use functions would tell us if the shop sold high order goods or low order goods, this would be called a convenience store as you wouldn’t look at different shop to see if you could buy a cheaper alternative, and the other would be a comparison store as the item would you would be buying would be expensive so you would check other stores to buy it cheaper. So in the core I would believe there to be more comparison stores here than on the frame, as there is easy accessibility to the core as all roads and bus routes lead into the core. The CBD index quality would tell us about the litter and quality of the pavement. Getting closer into the CBD would mean you wouldn’t see as much litter there as the pedestrianized are would be garnished wither places to dispose litter and also there would be street furniture, like benches. This would be here due to it having a high amount of foot flow; in addition I would say that this trend would be closer to the core than the frame due to there being a high foot flow. We also had to count the number of pedestrians that we saw in our allocated area, in the core I would expect there to be a higher number of pedestrians than the frame, and this is because most comparison shops are in the core, so the core has more major shops and retail companies. This is because the high street has a higher influx of people wanting to buy more who are there top shop specifically. These 4 factors would contribute to strengthen our distinction of the frame and the core.
Glossary:
PLVI - A peak land value intersection is the region within a settlement with the greatest land value and commerce. As such, it is usually located in the central business district of a town or city, and has the greatest density of transport links such as roads and rail.
Accessibility - Accessibility is defined as the measure of the capacity of a location to be reached by, or to reach different locations. Therefore, the capacity and the arrangement of transport infrastructure are key elements in the determination of accessibility.

Competitions - Rivalry between two or more businesses striving for the same shop or allotment area in a CBD.
Convenience goods - Widely distributed and relatively inexpensive goods which are purchased frequently and with minimum of effort, such as newspapers, and most grocery items.
Comparison goods - Products that often have business distribution outlets clustered together, and which consumers purchase relatively