I have lived in the residential area Burnside, which is situated in the town of Rutherglen since I was a young child. The estate I live in I would describe as quiet, leafy and very green due to the volume and range of trees and woodland area which surround the area. 
There is limited traffic around the estate as vehicle access is allowed for residents only, this implies that streets within the estate there is slight noise pollution created from traffic. The houses within the estate are all terraced with front and back gardens, with no driveways resulting in residents parking on street. However due to more resident having cars nowadays (as the estate was built in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s) this has provoked problems finding parking spaces and resulting in the local council using green space in the estate to provide more parking. Likewise, the estate has a burn (a small stream) which leads into a small pond at the end of the estate, there is a peaceful walk way that runs parallel to the burn. However, in the past the burn has caused flooding problems, resulting in some resident homes being flooded, as a consequence the local council has employed flood management systems to prevent homes flooding. Also within the estate there is assisted housing for the elderly and a small community hall that can be used for events and is also where the local councillor and MSP hold their monthly sittings. There is a bus stop outside the estate on a main dual-carriage way that provide services to Glasgow city centre and East Kilbride. The nearest train station is a 10 minute- walk and runs to Glasgow Central and Newton. Likewise, the M77 is close by too.
The area of Burnside is in walking distance to many amenities such as the Primary Health Centre, dentists, large supermarkets, two hotels and other necessary services, this is highlighted within the EEA document on urban environments which states towns and cities provide citizen with short travelling times to work, school, hospitals and other services due population density. Â Rutherglen Main street is a 10-minute walk from Burnside, the Main Street has a shopping centre that has a couple of supermarkets, home stores and pharmacies. There are no high street fashion stores in Rutherglen, the nearest shopping area is Glasgow which is 20 minutes by train, bus or car. Also on Main street there is a library, one Roman Catholic church, two Christian churches, restaurants, a couple of pubs and the town hall that has a café, a registers office and entertainment shows are performed throughout the year. Also within the area of Burnside there is a park with a children’s Play area and other grassed areas. The area likewise offers clubs for young and old, there are many Scouting, Guide and Boys/ Girl Brigade groups, dance groups, music groups and two gyms/ leisure centres within the proximity. There are several primary schools and three secondary schools. The nearest hospital is the Victoria Infirmary which has a minor injury unit, out-of- hours and outpatient services, the closest hospital that has accident and emergency would be the Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Govan, which is a 25-minute journey by car.
Using the Air Quality Scotland website, I was able to determine the pollution in my local which is 1 meaning it is low for Nitrogen Dioxide and other particulate matter, however nitric oxide was unrecorded.
In addition to surveying my local area I watched a insightful TED talk by Alessandra Orofino, are principle argument was about how technology should be used in urban environments to increase citizen participation in local and national decision making, as a response to declining in election voting throughout the world. I consider this is an innovative idea as the world is constantly modernising and technology is evolving too, this would be more geared at todays generation and I think voter participation would increase as a consequence.
Teaching children in regards to urban environment is essential as it allows children to explore their local environment (if they live in urban area) or not to compare to where they live (if rural). This gives children the opportunity to evaluate their surroundings, environment, culture and amenities. Within the curriculum for Excellence framework urban environment outcomes and experiences feature heavily.
A lesson idea on urban environment for a Primary 5 class would be looking at traffic in the local area. I would organise to take the class to different streets that vary in traffic (for instance a main street, a one-way street, a main road and no through traffic street) within the proximity of the school. I would provide the children with clipboards and worksheets of the different types (split into categories of car, bus, van, bike), they would use tally markers, to mark the vehicles as it past. Back in the classroom children would use the data they collected and display in graphs to compare the different areas, also writing what could be done in order to reduce traffic. Links to CFE SOC 2-08a and SOC 2-09a.
I have found this week’s sustainable development resources to be rather interesting, which has allowed me to reflect on my local area, but also discover new information in regard to its urban environment.
