Describe the fieldwork and research you would undertake in order to investigate why some urban areas are in need of rebranding

When investigating why some urban areas need rebranding I would use a range of both primary and secondary data to see what the environmental, economic and social needs for rebranding were. Primary fieldwork I would complete whilst in the area would include: land use surveys, EQS’s, questionnaires, perception surveys, an index of decay and I would also take photos of the area. By using a wide range of primary fieldwork I would be able to see why the area needs rebranding in a range of ways. When completing a land use survey I would use systematic sampling as I would visit every 5th property then make notes on what the property was being used for used for or what service it provided. By completing a land use survey I would be able to see what services there are in the local area and I would also be able to see what state of repair the buildings are in. An EQS allows me to look at the environmental needs of an area as when completing it I am assessing the buildings, traffic, open space and gardens and the general quality of the area. To complete and EQS I would walk around the area and rate each quality on a scale of +2, high, to -2, very poor. Another way of assessing the environmental needs of rebranding is through an index of decay, this would involve walking round the area an assessing the physical conditions of buildings within the area and rating them. This would show the needs of rebranding as if the area is in a state of disrepair then people may not be attracted to the area so the cycle of deprivation continues. To complete both the EQS and index of decay I would use stratified sampling as we already knew something about the area. Opinion based primary fieldwork I would complete whilst investigating the needs of an area includes questionnaires and perception surveys. To complete the questionnaire I would use random sampling to ensure my results reflected a wide range of opinions. Questionnaires would provide me with people’s opinion of the area and can be used to show why rebranding needs to happen. If their opinion suggests that there are a lot of improvements that could be made to the area or that it is lacking services or transport infrastructure then this shows there is a need to rebrand. Questionnaires don’t only show the social needs for rebranding but can show the economic and environmental needs as well, it all depends on what they questions ask. A perception survey also reflects people’s opinions of the area; again I would use random sampling to gain a wide range of results. Perception surveys would allow me to quickly collect people’s opinions as they include close questions. The results would provide me with opinions on the area and also information about improvements people in the area wanted to see. The final piece of primary fieldwork I would complete whilst in the area would be taking pictures, I would take pictures to try and capture the area socially, economically and environmentally. By taking a range of pictures I would be able to see if the results from my surveys fitted what my pictures show. This would help when investigating the needs of rebranding as it would provide visual representation of the area and when comparing the results to an area that has been rebranded the needs would become obvious quickly. Also when investigating the needs of rebranding I would complete secondary research to see if it supports the findings from my primary research. However when using secondary data I would have to be careful that the information was up to date and wasn’t biased. I would use a range of sources to provide me with secondary data such as census data, checkmyfile, crime data, economic activity and government profiles. I would research census data to see how many people in the area are unemployed this would show the economic needs of rebranding. The census data would also provide me with information about the social needs of an area as the census data includes information about education and health care provision in an area. Checkmyfile would also back up the information from the census data as it gives information about unemployment and also gives information about the social demographic of the area. This would help when investigating the needs of rebranding as it could show that the demographic is a certain way because of a poor service provision. Crime data would show the social needs for rebranding as it would show if there are high levels of crime in the area and would give an indication as to how safe the area was. If the results showed there was high crime in the area and the community didn’t feel very safe this would suggest there was a need for rebranding. Economic activity would provide me with information about the local areas economy and where people spent money in the local area. This would help to show the needs of rebranding as if there were few services in the area then there wouldn’t be much spending, it would also show if there was a lot of business in the area. The final piece of secondary data I would research to investigate the needs of rebranding would be government profiles of the are this would provide me with a whole range of social, environmental and economic indicators. When investigating the need for rebranding it is essential that I compare the results from my fieldwork and research to the results of an area that has experienced rebranding so I can look at the differences which would be where the main needs would lie.