After spending an afternoon on Coal Clough Lane,
photographing shops and talking to shopkeepers, I started thinking about the
character of small, local high streets and why it feels so good to see one
thrive.
This in part is explained by the phenomenon known as ‘globalisation’.
Globalisation is a term referencing the
speeding up of life through accessible and convenient global travel, instant
electronic communications and also the proliferation of multinational
corporations that serve to make one high street look increasingly like any
other.
Distinctive places, like a high street packed with thriving
independent shops, are increasingly important in localities that are
metamorphosing under the pressures of globalisation. In a globalising world, as
high streets and other places begin to exhibit more shared characteristics than
differences, people become enthusiastic to assert a place identity that makes
them distinct from other communities and localities.
In the past, a strong place identity might have been
attributed to limited mobility and the tendency towards residence in a single
place from birth until death. But within a single generation (from the 1940s to
the 1970s), travel has become both more desirable and more achievable (Relph, 2008). In a
world where place distinctiveness is threatened by the flood of globalisation,
asserting a particular sense of place has presented a form of anchorage (Crang, 1998: 102, Dicks, 2000: 51, Harve, 190: 302, Smith, 2006: 75).
Which brings me back to the central questions, what is special and distinctive about South West Burnley? What contributes to local people's sense of place?
References:
Crang, M. (1998) Cultural Geography. New York: Routledge.
Dicks, B. (2000) Heritage, Place and Community. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
Harvey, D. (1990) The condition of postmodernity: an enquiry into the origins of cultural change.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell.
Relph, E. (2008) 'Preface to Reprint of Place and Placelessness', in Place and Placelessness.
London: Pion Limited.
Smith, L. (2006) The Uses of Heritage. London: Routledge.
