I have chosen the town where I live (Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway) as my urban environment for this task. Dumfries is a market town in South-West Scotland near the border with England. The area around Dumfries is quite rural and a lot of farming activity occurs.
There are three main roads that connect to and from Dumfries; The A75 (Connecting south towards Annan and Carlisle and further South), The A76 (Connecting North to places such as Sanquhar, Cumnock and Ayr) and The A701 (Connecting North to Moffat and towards Edinburgh and Glasgow) [Appendix 1].
Dumfries has many historical buildings that make up the history and culture of the town itself [Appendixes 2&3]. The High Street and The Vennel (two of the main streets in the Central Business District) are vastly made up of these historical buildings. There are also two main green-spaces in Dumfries – The Dock Park and Castledykes Park [Appendixes 4&5]. The main transport in Dumfries is busses and trains. The busses are used more and are on the most part more regular than the trains. There are two trains pass through Dumfries (Both part of the same route connecting Carlisle and Glasgow Central).
Dumfries has four libraries with the main and oldest being The Ewart Library. Also, each housing estate in Dumfries has it’s own community centre that can be used by all.
Dumfries is a learning town with lots of work going on locally to improve education [Dumfries & Galloway Council]. In addition to many Primary schools, Dumfries has four Secondary schools, Dumfries and Galloway College and two university campuses (The University of the West of Scotland and The University of Glasgow).
There are two main sports centres in Dumfries also (The David Keswick Centre and DG1) which can be accessed by anyone making sports accessible to all. Also, there are two theatres and a cinema for recreation. Although there are not many options for young people if they wanted to go somewhere in town for fun, many local charities have become involved in getting young people engaged inn activities and hobbies such as a project called “The Toon”.
Dumfries has four main industrial estates where many people choose to work. With being an Urban/Rural town, many people are involved in agriculture and dairy work. This has opened up the way for some local farmers markets where you can buy good quality produce.
The population of Dumfries and Galloway in 2015 was 149,670 which was a decrease of 0.2 per cent from the previous figure 149,960 in 2014 according to the National Record of Scotland (2016). This shows that the population of the region is in decline.
Dumfries has a high air quality [Air Quality Scotland] with the most recent figures showing a low pollution index of Index 1. This could be due to the rural connections in and around the area as Dumfries & Galloway is a rural community.
Appendixes:
Appendix 1 – An ordinate survey map of Dumfries showing the main roads leading to and from the area.
https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/55.08263,-3.60768,13
Appendix 2 – Greyfriars Church.
Appendix 3 – St. Joseph’s College, RC Diocese of Galloway.
Appendix 4 – Castledykes Park.
Appendix 5 – Dock Park.
References:
Dumfries & Galloway Council (2017) Dumfries Learning Town. [Online] Available: http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/article/15958/Dumfries-Learning-Town Accessed: 22/09/17
The National Records of Scotland (2016) Dumfries and Galloway Council Area – Demographic Factsheet. [Online] Available: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/council-area-data-sheets/dumfries-and-galloway-factsheet.pdf Accessed: 23/09/17
Air Quality Scotland (2017) Air Pollution Report – Dumfries. [Online] Available: http://www.scottishairquality.co.uk/assets/downloads/AQScotland-statistics-report-DUMF-2017.pdf Accessed: 23/09/17
