Clone town survey

Is Guildford a clone town? An alternative urban study

Fed up with shopping surveys and urban transects? This is the fieldwork activity for you – an alternative take on the urban study. It can be applied to any town or city in your local area and features a number of tasks that you can select and adapt to suit your requirements. The activity, shown here through the example of Guildford in Surrey, would suit a high ability Year 9 class or a GCSE group, and involves the use of key skills such as the interpretation of census data alongside field-based tasks. It would tie in to an investigation into service provision, standard of living or crime in your local area, as well as a wider study of the British Isles.

Useful weblinks

• Website of the New Economics Foundation (NEF)

• Retail chains ‘cloning’ UK towns by John Carvel, The Guardian - June 6, 2005

• 2001 census data down to ward level – including housing type and price

• Almost half UK towns are clones

Clone Town Survey

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) have produced a summary of their research (download from below) into the nation’s clone towns.