BETWEEN CRIME AND PLACE IN ATLANTIC WHARF The landscape of crime and disorder in a regenerated neighbourhood OLIVER COWAN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES CARDIFF UNIVERSITY A thesis submitted to Cardiff University in fulfilment of the requirements of candidature for the degree of PhD. February 2011 UMI Number: U567106 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U567106 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 DECLARATION This work has not been accepted in substance for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed >r^7. ...........-7. ....................... (Candidate) Date .............................. Statement 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed VrTTT. frTTTT.................... (Candidate) Date......?&/.£j.ZV.U. ................................ Statement 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed ......................... (Candidate) Date Z&fzjZQU............................. Statem ent 3 I hereby give consent for this thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed .............................. (Candidate) Date Z$.J.2>/.Z'QIA ....................... ABSTRACT This thesis considers the experience and perception of crime and disorder for residents of Atlantic Wharf, a regenerated neighbourhood in Cardiff. In doing so it brings together existing criminological approaches to place with perspectives from anthropology, urban sociology and cultural geography. It draws on empirical data gathered from a questionnaire survey, walking interviews and participant observation in order to develop an understanding of how participating residents make sense of, negotiate, and respond to issues of crime and disorder in the place where they live. The use of walking interviews relates to an overall theoretical approach that attends to the role of pedestrian movement in making sense of crime and place in the regenerated landscape. Drawing on the work of Ingold (2000) and Lefebvre (2004) this situates this thesis within a wider mobility turn. A recurring motif of the 'in-between' captures the focus of this thesis on conceptual and physical boundaries. Furthermore, much of the empirical analysis works on the distinction between the landscape as a way of seeing and landscape as lived practice (Gold and Revill, 2003). Participating residents actively interpret crime and disorder in relation to their representations of Atlantic Wharf as a place. Following Simmel's (1997) understanding of boundaries, the conceptual distancing of Atlantic Wharf from other places in relation to crime and disorder turns on a necessary connection with places near and far. The thesis shows that representations of crime and place inform and are informed by pedestrian practice. Empirical analysis reveals a tension between different ways of 'knowing' both crime and place relating to Ingold's (2000) concepts of navigation and wayfaring. This tension between direction 'from above' and finding a way through the neighbourhood landscape on the ground reveals processes of crime and place that are both mutual and mutable. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks first go to the ESRC for funding this research. I am also grateful to Cardiff University for financial support during my writing-up period. Thanks also to the residents of Atlantic Wharf who took part in this research for their time and patience. I am also very grateful to the British Library and the LSE for use of their facilities during my time writing up. I am very lucky to have two supportive, constructive and understanding supervisors. So thanks to Tom and Trevor for guiding me through this process, as well as letting me find my own way when needed. Everyone at Cardiff University that I have got to know over these last few years has played a part in getting me to this point. A huge thanks to Liz Renton and all the other supportive staff in the School of Social Sciences. Friends, both from Cardiff and beyond, have played their part in distracting me (in a good way) from the rigours of the PhD, and also given me things to think and talk about other than my thesis. Special thanks to Martin Weinel, Heike Doering, Gerbrand Tholen, Richard Taulke-Johnson, Adam Comer, Adam Vaughan, Anne Foley, Jasmin Tregidga, Rob Smith, Chris Pac-Soo, Matt McCormick and Claire Coveney. I am also very thankful for the support of my wonderful family, and I am looking forward to spending more time with you all. Now you don't have to worry about asking me how it's going....because it's gone! You have always been very understanding and thoughtful in looking after and supporting me with your words of encouragement. Now you finally get to read it, if you still want to! Mum and Gilly, Dad (and Elaine), Lu, James, Bri, Dais and Spence - thank you. Special thanks to Dad for your support during the final few weeks! I also appreciate the love and kindness shown to me by Nat's family, who have variously provided me with a roof over my head, and countless hot meals and cold beers to boot. Of course I would not have completed this thesis without the love and support from Nat, who has worked tirelessly to support me through the closing stages of my research. I am forever in your debt. Thanks to all of you. CONTENTS Declaration (i) / Abstract (ii) / Acknowledgements (iii) /Contents (iv) List of Figures (vi) / List of Appendices (vii) 1. In trod u ction 1 2. Crime, disorder and regeneration in the contemporary city 9 Order and disorder in the industrial city 9 Crime, late modernity and the urban middle class 13 Experiencing fear and disorder 20 Crime, disorder, and the regenerated neighbourhood 28 Conclusion 41 3. Making sense of crime and disorder through place 43 Places fo r crime 44 Dwelling in the everyday landscape 51 In-between a sense of place 54 Sensing the rhythms o f place 61 Conclusion 68 4. Moving through the research landscape 70 A guiding framework 71 Proceeding with data collection 81 Crossing paths with analysis 95 Conclusion 103 5. Mapping the development of Atlantic Wharf 104 Situating Atlantic Wharf 104 Accounting for Atlantic Wharf 111 Conclusion 121 6. Resident representations of crime and place in Atlantic 123 W h arf Surveying the landscape 124 Spatial thresholds 127 Social and cultural thresholds 144 Temporal thresholds 158 Conclusion 164 7. Negotiating crime and disorder in Atlantic Wharf 166 Walking through the neighbourhood 166 Encounters with liminal sites 175 Lloyd George Avenue in transition 188 Conclusion 196 8. Response and responsibility to crime and disorder 198 A domestic scene 199 Keeping themselves occupied 207 The Atlantic Wharf Residents Association 218 Responsibilization in motion 224 Conclusion 234 9. Finding a way through crime and place in the Atlantic 236 W harf landscape Crime and place on the move 2^ Moving with crime and place Conclusion 2^ 10. Conclusion 257 Bibliography 265 Appendices 292 v LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 - Location of Atlantic Wharf in Cardiff 3 4.1 - Atlantic Wharf boundaries 79 4.2 - Palimpsest map of walking interview routes 88 5.1 - Cardiff Bay Development Corporation area 109 5.2 - Location of Butetown in Cardiff Local Authority 112 5.3 - Atlantic Wharf as part of LSOA3 113 5.4 - South Wales Police crime map for Cardiff 117 5.5 - South Wales Police crime map for Cardiff Bay Vehicle Crime 117 5.6 - Cardiff Bay (Sector 30) Beats 118 5.7 - Police Beats for Sector 30 119 5.8 - Total crimes across categories for Butetown Electoral Division 120 5.9 - Monthly distribution of recorded offences in Atlantic Wharf 121 6.1- Redevelopment of Tyndall Street 132 6.2 - Lloyd George Avenue looking toward the city centre 135 6.3 - The Bute East Dock 139 6.4 - The Granary, a secure gated development on Lloyd George Avenue 144 6.5 - Commuter car parking along Schooner Way 162 7.1 - On the straight and narrow between housing developments 170 7.2 - Broken glass as a sign of crime 170 7.3 - The canal at night 178 74 - 'Escape route' leading out of a housing development 180 7.5 - Pellett Street footbridge 183 7.6 - Occluded vistas along the canal footpath 187 7.7 - Kissing-gate looking through onto Lloyd George Avenue 195 8.1 - 'Loose space' behind housing developments 203 8.2 - Police divers sweep the canal 226 8.3 - 'Graffiti busting' along the canal footpath 228 84 - Items removed during the canal clean-up 230 8.5 - Computer monitor and books found in the bushes. 232 vi APPENDICES Appendix 1: Doorstep survey Appendix 2: Information on interview participants 1 INTRODUCING CRIME AND PLACE IN A REGENERATED NEIGHBOURHOOD Introduction This thesis makes two main contributions to academic inquiry. First, it engages with crime and disorder in the context of urban regeneration. Second, it expands on prevalent notions of crime and place through an understanding of how sensibilities toward each inform and are informed by the lived practice of inhabitation. This chapter provides an overview of the theoretical, empirical and geographical context in which this research is placed. In doing so it presents the rationale for researching crime and disorder with regard to regenerated spaces of affluence in the post-industrial city.