Face Of Britain Research Articles

The geography of the information economy

The growth of the information economy is defined in relation to four key processes : 1. Information is becoming the key strategic resource on which the effective production and delivery of goods and services in all sectors of the economy is increasingly dependent. 2. The convergence of computers and telecommunications which is transforming the means of information exchange within and between organisations. 3. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are facilitating the growth of the tradeable information sector. 4. Use of ICTs is maximising benefits to enterprises of global trade and local markets. From a geographical perspective, it is clear that ICTs, such as computer networks, which link work places within and between organisations can have a profound influence on what activities are located where, on how territories are administered or market areas served, and on how links are maintained between customers and suppliers in different areas. Based on the analysis of data on the changing distribution of information occupations and industries, the spread of computer networking within organisations, case studies of public and private sector organisations, analysis of internal change within British Telecom and an examination of the regional dynamics of the audiovisual industry, a number of significant conclusions are beginning to emerge. First, far from eliminating the importance of geography, the so-called "space-transcending" ICTs. when taken together with other factors, are supporting a more uneven pattern of regional development within the UK. Information occupations and industries have grown more dramatically in London and the South East in the past ten years, reflecting the capital's international as well as its national role. This growth has been underpinned by the rapid diffusion of computer networks ; these networks have their hubs in London, which serves to reinforce its dominant position in the national and urban systems. Second, there is only limited evidence so far of ICTs contributing to more flexible ways of organising the production of goods and the delivery of services in the way that could benefit smaller enterprises and indigenous development in declining regions. Computer networks are still primarily for intra-organisational transactions and as a means of reasserting control over organisational processes ; very few small firms are using ICTs to create competitive advantage, reconfigure their corporate geography, and change the way in which they manage territory. Clearly, ICTs have the potential for radically changing the face of Britain rather than simply reinforcing the old order. Third, the intersection between sectoral and geographical considerations in relation to the development of the UK information economy is poorly articulated in the regulation of the information industries or in public policy more generally. At the national level, the implications of the privatisation of British Telecom in relation to its capacity to respond to the changing geography of demand, appears not to have been understood by the regulators, and whilst the role of broadcasting in regional development is acknowledged, the mechanisms are only dimly understood by policy makers. At the local level, there is little evidence of, but an urgent need for, coherent planning for the information economy which integrates training, infrastructure provision, technology demand stimulation measures etc. not only as a means of achieving more balanced regional development, but in order to ensure that the UK reaps the benefits of becoming a network-based economy.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book review in this aticle:HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTOGRAMMETRIC METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS. By T. J. Blachut and K. B. R. Burkhardt.YORKSHIRE FROM THE AIR. Photographs by Aerofilms.EDM TRAVERSES: MEASUREMENT, COMPUTATION AND ADJUSTMENT. By R. G. Bird.NON‐TOPOGRAPHIC PHOTOGRAMMETRY. Second Edition. Edited by H. M. Karara.THREE DIMENSIONAL APPLICATIONS IN GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS. Edited by J. Raper.THE INTERDISCIPLINARY ROLE OF SPACE GEODESY. Edited by I. Mueller and S. Zerbini.THE EMERGING PAST. AIR PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE BURIED LANDSCAPE. By R. [P.] Whimster.LAND INFORMATION AND REMOTE SENSING FOR RENEWABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SUB‐SAHARAN AFRICA. By F. FALLOUX.SATELLITE MONITORING OF THE EARTH. By K.‐H. Szekielda.AN ALBUM OF MAP PROJECTIONS. By J. P. Snyder and P. M. Voxland.THE CHANGING FACE OF BRITAIN—FROM THE AIR. By L. Gardiner.MAP COMPILATION AND REVISION IN DEVELOPING AREAS: TEST OF LARGE FORMAT CAMERA IMAGERY. By J. Rollin and I. J. Dowman.CARTOGRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRODUCTION. By J. S. Keates.THE ASSOCIATION FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION YEARBOOK 1989. Edited by P. J. Shand and R. V. Moore.

The FSC's land: managing a fieldwork resource

The Field Studies Council occupies land for at least three purposes. At all ten Field Centres the immediate surroundings contribute significantly to the ambience in which the visitor/staff community lives and works. Secondly, it is a great advantage for a Centre to have working land free from the encumbrances of regular negotiations with its owner; land which can be managed to suit the requirements of the teaching programme. At six of the Field Centres, the ‘estate’ is large enough to contribute to this purpose. The third reason for occupying land is, perhaps, the most important. We ought to want to demonstrate that we can apply our ecological knowledge for its own practical end. We should be able to show how to manipulate succession, how to crop the stand, how to maintain the view, and how to recycle the energy and the materials. I would like to think that the holding of land (and water) and the demonstration of its sound management was part of the working ethic of the Field Studies Council. We need to manage a range of habitats, stands and communities, to maintain their qualities and to demonstrate that we care about and can care for each of them. All this presupposes that we develop or invest in the skills and background necessary for the process. The land we manage tells its own story. If we manage it well it will increase our corporate and individual satisfactions. It could mean that we have within our ranks the new yeomen; with them we could lead the original yeoman into a new attitude and enterprise which will maintain, and may even enhance, the face of Britain when the odds might otherwise be against it.

‘Reprofessionalization’ or ‘occupational imperialism’?: Some reflections on pharmacy in Britain

Drawing upon preliminary research findings, this paper considers whether pharmacists in Britain face a crisis in their occupational status and identity as a result of changes in their work and market situations. It further examines some of the ways in which they are responding to the challenges and opportunities presented. The paper also comments on the utility of the concepts of ‘reprofessionalization’ and ‘occupational imperialism’ in the study of British pharmacy.

New Parties in Britain

The two-party system is sometimes thought of as being "natural" to Britain. In fact, many new parties have been formed, but few have survived as politically significant independent bodies. New parties in Britain face severe obstacles, of which the elec toral system is the greatest. Despite these difficulties, opportunities favorable for new parties do sometimes arise; new parties may also be founded by minorities that feel there is no longer a place for them in one of the established parties. A distinctive political group has a choice of either starting a new party or of trying to infiltrate one of the older parties and so capturing it from within. The success of a new party may have profound medium-term consequences for the country's political alignment. Major social changes, however, are more likely to have an effect through the existing parties than through the rise of a new party.

Managing inland water for leisure and recreation — an example from Southern England

The private enterprise development of a series of disused gravel pits, situated just 20 miles from the centre of London, into an attractive and commercially viable theme park for leisure and recreation is described. Three great waves have broken across the face of Britain since 1800. First the sudden growth of dark, industrial towns. Second, the thrusting move along far flung railways. Third, the sprawl of car based suburbs. Now we see, under the guise of a modest word, the surge of a fourth wave which could be more powerful than all the others. The modest word is ‘Leisure’. (Civic Trust, 1965)

Organisation & the Search for Community

In the opening years of the 18th century, Englishmen stood on the verge of the greatest change to society the modern world has known. Already the foundations of the Industrial Revolution had been laid, the earliest “manufacturies” had been established, the harnessing of water power to machines was much improved and the first practical steam engine had been invented by Savery & Newcomen. Science and scientific knowledge, following the great traditions of English scientific thought, was flowering; the enclosures were making available the manpower to fodder the revolution and, above all, the great markets of the Americas and the Far East were opening to English manufactured goods. The stage was set for the development of the organisations which were to change the face of Britain and eventually the world.

New Conceptions of French Policy in Tropical Africa

W X rHEN I was asked to deliver the Stevenson Memorial Lecture, it did not seem to me inconsistent with the faith and the hope of the man whose memory we honour to suggest considering French views on the vital problem, common to both France and Britain, of policy in Tropical Africa. Whatever the solution, it will have a bearing on the relations between our two countries and will to a large extent set the future for Africa itself. Indeed, in Tropical Africa, France and Great Britain face very similar tasks. Shall we be able, each with our own methods-in the Gold Coast or in Dahomey, in Nigeria or in the Ivory Coast, in Gambia or in French Guinea-to lead towards a better future peoples who put their trust in us? That is the question. Our respective solutions need not necessarily be the same; but they should be efficient and satisfactory for the parties concerned. The main thing is to ascertain whether Africa will develop in harmony-and to some extent in association-with the Western world, or in violent opposition to it. I would like, if I may, to describe the course that France, after longperhaps too long-hesitations, has chosen to follow. You will doubtless find matter both for criticism and for thought in our experience. However, there is someone in this room to whom I do not flatter myself that I shall bring any new information. In agreeing to take the chair today, Lord Hailey has done me an honour for which I am indeed grateful; but at the same time he is subjecting me to a severe test. No one, I believe, is more familiar with the problems of Tropical Africa than the author of the memorable African Survey; no one therefore will be more readily able to see the weak points in my expose; but no one could realize more clearly than Lord Hailey all that is at stake.

Railroads and the Changing Face of Britain, 1825–1901

This article goes beyond the usual easy generalization that the coming of the railroad brought profound economic and social changes. Here a broad panorama is revealed, but with specific features in sharp focus, These features include the conflicting impact of the railroads on local craftsmen and tradesmen; the initial stimulus to extreme concentration and then to dispersion of population; the influence upon industrial decentralization; the changing railroad attitude toward passenger traffic; the rise of dormitory suburbs and their conversion into integrated communities; the social implications of the new mode of conveyance; the significance in labor reform of the railroads as large employers. Students of American transportation will find much of interest in this British pattern and in the method by which it is set forth.

Thomas Milne's Land Utilization Map of the London Area in 1800

To make A land utilization map of piece of country, the modern geographer selects base-map showing field boundaries. By inspection of the ground, he inserts key letter within each field to show its use, such as A for arable land, M for meadowland, H for heathland, and so on. He then prepares coloured map, with arable land in brown, meadowland in light green, forest in dark green, heath? land in yellow, gardens in purple and agriculturally unproductive land in red. This procedure derives from the method adopted by the Land Utilization Survey of Britain to record the face of Britain in the years 1930-8. The use of letters and colours on the published land use maps of this Survey was not entirely new, how? ever, for as early as 1800 Thomas Milne had prepared for publication handcoloured, engraved map of the London area which makes use of this technique. map, on scale of 2 inches to 1 mile, is engraved on six plates, each n34 by 15 inches. It bears the title Milne's Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster, circumadjacent Towns and Parishes c 11th March An area of about 260 square miles, extending from Harrow Weald to Woodford and from Hampton-on-Thames to Sundridge Park is covered by the map. The map records the use of each field by means of an inserted letter and an overpainted colour. These make it possible to distinguish no less than twelve different types of land use; as several are sub-divided, seventeen categories in all may be distinguished. Arable land, when enclosed, is shown by the italic letter a and pale brown colour not unlike the one used by the Land Utilization Survey century and quarter later. Enclosed meadow and pasture are shown exactly as on the later Survey, by the letter m and light green colouring. Woodland is shown by the letter w, tree symbols in the form of tiny circles, and dark green colour. Enclosed market gardens receive the letter g and light blue colour; nurseries n and orange colour. Orchards and osier-beds share the letter o and blue colouring, so that the map reader needs to judge from the nearness of the field to the river which of the two is intended. Paddocks or little parks are represented by the letter p and pink colour; the position of the residence within the park is shown by black rectangle. Drained marshland pasture has the letters ma and greygreen colouring. Common fields, with their admixture of small strip-fields used for diverse purposes, present difficult problem to the cartographer. One-third of the agricultural land of the London area still remained unenclosed in 1800. Milne showed great care and skill in representing, within the limits of scale, the variety of land use in common fields. The letters caf designate common arable fields. They are coloured brown if wholly arable, and bear conventionalized brown and green stripes if there is considerable admixture of grassland strips with the arable. Common meadows bear the letters cmf and solid green colouring, or green and brown bands as might be appropriate. Common market-garden fields are shown by the letters cgf and blue colouring, or by blue and brown bands. Great care

Television and the Future of Documentary

PAUL ROTHA began in feature films in 1928, and has been a pioneer in British documentary since 1930. He had produced some 250 films by 1948 and had directed, among others, Contact (1933), Shipyard (1934), Face of Britain (1935), The Fourth Estate (1940), World of Plenty (1943), Land of Promise (1945), A City Speaks (1946), The World Is Rich (1947), No Resting Place (1951), and World Without End (1952, with Basil Wright). His many publications include The Film Till Now, Documentary Film, and Movie Parade. A Fellow of the British Film Academy, Mr. Rotha was Head of Documentary at the B.B.C. Television from May, 1953 to May, 1955.

The Changing Face of Britain

The Changing Face of Britain