To What Extent do Social and

Environmental Characteristics Vary

Between Salusbury Road and
Kilburn-High Road?
Why I chose this title and area
I have chosen to focus my investigation of differing social and environmental characteristics
on Salusbury and Kilburn-High Road as I have resided in the middle of the two roads my
whole life, and have a strong place attachment and a great sense of place in the two areas,
despite the differing characteristics.

Aims
The aims of this enquiry are to:
 To investigate whether the quality and variety of shops changes between Salusbury
Road and Kilburn-High Road
 To examine the differences in environmental quality along Salusbury Road and
Kilburn-High Road
 To deduce if there is a greater amount of crime on Kilburn-High Road than on
Salusbury Road

How the title links to the specification content

3.2.2.1- The nature and importance of place
Factors contributing to the character of the place:
• Endogenous: location, topography, physical geography, land use, built environment and
infrastructure, demographic and economic characteristics.
The study will investigate how the endogenous factors differ between Salusbury Road and
Kilburn-High Road, primarily focusing on the difference in shopping opportunities,
environmental quality and crime levels.

Hypotheses
 There will be more high-end shops and a wider variety of shops along Salusbury Road
 There will be higher environmental quality along Salusbury Road
 There will be lower rates of crime along Salusbury Road

The rationale of each hypothesis

Hypothesis 1- There will be more high-end shops and a wider variety of shops along
Salusbury Road.

Places change over time as well as our experiences within them, and a factor that causes these
experiences to differ over time are called agents of change. (et.al, 2016) Corporate
bodies like TNCs have an interest in regenerating areas through investment, aiming to
attract people to spend money. In certain areas, this constant investment can create
 ‘clone towns’ such as Oxford Street in London, where the same assortment of shops
exists, creating a homogenised feeling. In the areas I am looking at, I expect there to
be more investment by larger companies on Kilburn-High Road as it is part of the A5,
a radial route which runs through the outskirts of London into the centre of it. This
means it’s more accessible to visitors of the area and to help that there are three train
stations, compared to the one which is near Salusbury Road. Additionally, the
population of the Ward that encompasses the road has a greater population than the
Ward of Queens Park. The increased population will urge businesses and their
competitors to locate next to one another, in prime locations to get the maximum
market share. However, these businesses also choose to locate in areas where
wealthier customers live to provide the greatest opportunity for people to use their
shops. Due to this, I expect there to be higher quality and a variety of shops along
Salusbury Road. Moreover, for smaller businesses, opening retail businesses in busier
areas can improve their revenue and increase their marketing exposure, but due to
rising house prices of more than 865% in the last 20 years (Ivey, 2016), only
businesses that can afford the rent will locate there, often shops higher in quality.

Hypothesis 2- There will be higher environmental quality along Salusbury Road

Having a smaller population size and a quieter road will generally mean that there are lower
levels of both air and land pollution. The reduced number of cars will mean fewer pollutant
emissions from them. A factor I will be looking at is the level of graffiti and street art and
how they differ between the two Roads. I expect Kilburn-High Road to have a higher amount
of street art due to the increased multiculturalism in the Area. Another factor of
environmental quality is population density
Hypothesis 3- There will be lower rates of crime along Salusbury Road
The increased population of a Ward can contribute to a higher percentage of criminal
activities occurring, which I think will be the case for Kilburn-High Road. The area is also
more economically deprived due to a higher amount of social housing; Queens Park has 0
social housing properties compared to Kilburn which has 331. This can act as a catalyst for
gang violence, a prevalent matter throughout London.
 Locational Context

The two Roads are both in the London Borough of Brent; Salusbury Road is in the Ward of
Queens Park while Kilburn-High Road is on the boundary of the Ward of Kilburn.
The population of Queens Park is 13,755 (Statistics, 2020) while the population of Kilburn is
29,027.

Borough of
Brent

Kilburn-
High Road
Queens Park
Salusbury
and Kilburn
Road

Figure 2:Map of the wards of Brent, one road in is the ward

Figure 1:Map showing the borough of where both roads are of Queens Park while the other is in Kilburn (London
Figure 3:Map showing the twoBorough
roads which are highlighted
of Brent, 2011) (Google Maps)
(Brent) (London Borough of Brent, 2011)

Methodology

Location Suitability
Salusbury and Kilburn-High Road are suitable locations due to a few factors. The most
obvious is that it is geographically close to where I live, meaning the two sites are places that
I know very well so I can collect data efficiently. Also, any further collection that is required
can be easily accessible to me. The roads are both of manageable size to collect data from, so
from a risk assessment view getting lost isn’t something I have to worry about. Additionally,
there are lots of sites that provide secondary data on the two areas.
Location Maps
In all data collection methods, systematic sampling was used to collect the data required
along both roads. This sampling type allows me to obtain more accurate representations of
larger sampling areas while reducing the factor of bias. To work out the size of the roads I
used ArcGIS to calculate the distance from the start to the end of the areas I would include in
my data collection of the two roads. Salusbury Road was 792.36m and Kilburn-High Road
was 727.43m. Although not entirely equal, I then divided the roads into 10 sampling
locations, marking them on my phone’s map before I went and collected all my data.

Risk Assessment
When I am out collecting fieldwork, there is a chance for potential hazards to affect the
outcome of my data collection. In the following paragraphs, I will outline potential risks and
state the preventative measures that I will take to reduce the chance of the risk occurring.
Often when collecting data, I will be by myself so I must be constantly aware of my
surroundings meaning I should look both ways and make myself visibly seen if I’m about to
cross a road. Weather can also play a role in causing injury while collecting data. By wearing
appropriate footwear I will reduce the risk of slipping if it does rain when I’m outside.
Alternatively, I can ask a friend or family member to assist with my data collection, as I will
probably be focused on not trying to miss out on any primary data. My investigation covers
levels of crime along the two roads, so if I am alone walking especially in areas where there
may be higher levels of crime, I must steer clear of antisocial behaviour in these areas. I will
also aim to collect data during the day when there are the most amount of people around.
There is also a risk of being a target of pickpocketing, especially in Kilburn. To combat this I
will keep my valuables out of sight, in a zipped pocket and be extra attentive to my
surroundings.
When collecting data, I will probably be asked “what are you doing” by members of the
public, as well as me asking them for responses to my questionnaire. Some questions I ask
could offend if interpreted in the wrong way. Unexpected aggressive behaviour or personal
abuse from talking to strangers is also a possibility. If this does occur, I will aim to remove
myself from the situation and make sure I am polite and approachable
Method of Data Collection
The first technique I will use to collect data, for my first hypothesis, is a shop quality survey.
I am using this data collection method to investigate how the type of shops, retail
organisations and quality of shops provided vary between the two areas. This will allow me
to gain a greater understanding of the retail opportunities that are present along the different
roads. To collect the data, I will go out on 08/10/22 and by using a transect of the whole
street I will carry out the survey on both sides of the road, collecting data at every sampling
location, an example of systematic sampling. I will use this type of sampling to ensure that I
am able to collect data for the whole of the two streets during the time period I have set
myself. I will also be using a quality and variety of shops survey, to also gain an
understanding of the land use in the different areas. The survey I have created will aim to
show the different types of shops along the two roads and whether I believe they are of high
or low quality. An issue of this, however, is that my views are subjective and my idea of a
higher quality or lower quality shop will differ between people, regarding demographic or
financial situations.
For my second hypothesis, the quality of the environment will be assessed by using three
index surveys. The first one is a building condition survey that will rank factors such as
peeling paint or damage to walls on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the most amount of structural
damage. The judgements will be carried out by myself to make sure they are consistent
however my views may be different to those carried out by others. The second, an
environmental indices survey will assess the cleansing standards, highway infrastructure,
street furniture and landscaping from a scale of 0-4 with 4 being good and 0 being poor. A
total will be then added up out of 88, to see how ‘environmentally good’ the different areas
are. Finally a vandalism survey will measure the size and method used to create the graffiti.
Similar to the first methodology I will use a transect of both roads and fill out the surveys,
preferably on the same day (08/10/22). For these methodologies, the time of day doesn’t
matter as the degradation of buildings/ amount of vandalism will most likely not drastically
change. As said before, my views will differ to other people if they carried out the same
survey. Index surveys are time-consuming and analysis is often difficult, meaning there is the
possibility of outcomes being tenuous. To improve these data collection methods, I could ask
different people to carry out the survey, so that there are different views on the environmental
factors.
The final hypothesis will evaluate the amount of crime prevention features in a built
environment and an index of burglaribility in that area. For the first survey, a tally of the
features will be marked, added, and placed in the equation (1/number of anticrime features x
12). For the second a score of features in the different areas will be counted and added up,
allowing me to see how susceptible a house or business premise is to be burgled. Finally
secondary census data from websites such as the metropolitan police or council surveys will
help me to record the number and type of crimes in an area so that I can use it to judge the
levels of crime.