Within my local Urban area which is within the large town of Ayr there are a variety of physical characteristics blending both natural and man made features. Ayr is a coastal town which has shaped the types of development that
have taken place in the area. Such as larger numbers of homes being used as holiday lets or bed and breakfasts so that people can capitalise off the seaside location. There is also a larger number of fish and chip shops, ice cream venders and leisure facilities such as laser quest, bowling and arcades to encourage tourism to the area. The area also offers large areas of grassy land for outdoor activities. A good example of this is the well maintained wellington square which is an excellent place for tourists and locals alike to relax whilst still supporting nature by offering a greener area with more varieties of plant life.

Ayr is also showing signs of development through regeneration schemes. Major examples of this can be seen along the river Ayr. As part of the Ayr town centre strategy more unsightly buildings are being converted in to new flats and public buildings which brings new life in to the community and helps prevent the area from getting too run down whilst preserving the environment by regenerating existing buildings rather than taking over new land to build new buildings. Part of this is being done as part of the Ayr riverside framework project. This can be viewed in more detail via this pdf:  http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/documents/ayr%20riverside%20framework.pdf . The areas of land by the river have also shown signs of development within recent times through the construction of the UWS campus and halls of residence. The main building itself cost 81 million pounds to construct and was opened in 2011. This development helped raising Ayr’s student population whilst expanding on the facilities within the area.

Ayr also has good public transport links through having a decent bus network and good access to other areas out with Ayr via its train station. This is also helped by Ayr having its own bus station which allows people the option to use public transport for their daily commute. There are also sections of one way streets in place to help with congestion and the road down Ayr high street is reserved with in specific times purely for public transport. However the area doesn’t offer any sort of tram system and lacks in a lot of places pedestrianised zones. However there is evidence of good use of land with the presence of a multi-storey carpark as a part of the kyle shopping centre near the high street reducing the need for on street parking within the area which in turn reduces congestion.

Ayr has multiple primary schools including Braehead primary school, Grammar primary school and Forehill primary school which means local children have a higher chance of living closer to their primary school minimising their commute. This also allows communities to have stronger bonds to their respective local school whilst have wider connections to the other schools within Ayr.

There are also contains a couple of options of community centres giving people somewhere to go to socialise and take part in activities to raise skills and create bonds within the community. These include Heathfield community centre and Lochside community centre. However as the John Pollock community centre is now closed it could be observed that more could be done to encourage people to become more involved with their community.

The area also includes a library, Carnegie Library, offering people an access to technology and information showing signs of good development within the area. The south Ayrshire council is also working to continue to expand the amount of allotments available in the area. This is a good benefit to urban environments as it helps create more green spaces and in many cases offers up activities for elderly members of the community. It also allows people to then give something back to the community once they have grown their produce on their allotment.

Ayr offers plenty of opportunity for work during the summer months being a seaside town it can attract plenty of tourism meaning there are plenty of opportunities within the area to capitalise on tourism such as plenty of fast food outlets and hotels such as The Mercure Ayr hotel which is just up the road from where I live. This encourages tourists to bring more money into the area meaning the area is given more of a chance to thrive. There is also a strong agricultural and farming presence in the area which is supported by having an SRUC campus in the area helping to inspire future works in agriculture. Ayrs high street is still suffering some regard like most high streets across Scotland however there is still a large variety of large retail industries within Ayr as well as large choice of super markets including Morrisons, Lidls, Tescos and Aldi. This means people can do their shopping within Ayr without feeling the need to commute to cities such as Glasgow or Edinburgh.

In terms of recreation Ayr notable has the Gaiety theatre which has just been renovated showing signs of development and improvement within the area. This is important as it is things like this that help create people image of Ayr and what helps them define what it means to be a part of Ayr’s culture and environment. The area also offers sporting opportunities through places like the Citadel Leisure centre. This helps people get involved in their local community and allows people to live a more active life style.

With in Ayr there are 92 people per square kilometre. This is far less than the major cities within Scotland such as Glasgow which is currently estimated at 3415 per square kilometre and even the other surrounding counties such as East Ayrshire which is currently sitting at 97 per square kilometre.  This suggests the area offers far more open spaces and that people in general have a lot more room. The air quality within my area considered low (2), shown from the results taken from www.scottishairquality.co.uk which suggests that the area is far less industrial and is putting out far less pollutants that would affect the areas air quality. This is good as it means buildings like the UWS that are more environmentally friendly and the lack of certain industries within Ayr is helping to keep the air quality at a healthy level.