I often go jogs around my village without noticing a lot of new things however after reading up on the urban environment I have seen a lot of new things that I wouldn’t have looked twice at before. My urban environment is Mauchline a small town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. 
The main road (A76) runs through the middle of the town leading to other small villages and Dumfries which is used my thousands per day , see yellow road in picture left. In my town there is a large primary school that holds around 800 kids, a library, five convenience stores, a games hall and a museum that are all the main attractions in this small town. There are many other coffee shops, hairdressers and take away style shops. As the main road coming from kilmarnock runs through the town the town is always busy making retail in my urban environment a strong aspect. There are many parks that attract local football teams to train and children to have a safe place outdoors to congregate.
Mauchline has many houses varying from semi-detached to bungalows. In addition to this many of the housing schemes in Mauchline has just newly been built showing the the population of this town is forever increasing. In 2011 the town was estimated to home 3,884 people (East Ayrshire Council, 2014) therefore suggesting that a good combination between efficient housing of people and healthy conditions within the urban environment the European Environment Agency highlighted as an importance within the Urban Environment report (2013). 
In addition to this, Mauchline is a town tourists are often attracted to as it as a home town of Robert Burns. This brings in a lot of people due to the famous monuments and the museum of things belonging to Robert burns. The Fairborn hotel allows tourists to stay in the small village and enjoy the historical aspects as well as a small B&B that holds up-to 5 bedrooms. I have just recently noticed blue plaques put up around Mauchline, that allows tourists to gain information on the different buildings that Robert Burns; stayed in, where he went to church, where he met his wife and many more historical sights. I feel this brings the town its historical image back, educating tourists about the famous Robert Burns.
Transport in Mauchline is very efficient as there are various bus stops throughout the town in walking distance of houses. The buses are regular running to ayr and to kilmarnock; as well as the many villages on these routes. I feel this helps people in my town that can’t drive get to work or to social events. In addition to this, I am lucky to have a drive way running next to my house that i can keep my car as well as many other people in the town. However, many there are two main car parks within the town as well as parking on the street in many of the housing schemes. Therefore, people who need to travel using public services can do so to get about their daily routines.
The town itself offers various job opportunities, whether they be shop assistants, hairdressers and school staff for example. It has recently came to my attention the amount of places advertising jobs in shop windows looking for part time and full time workers. One member of my family has now had a gift shop open in Mauchline for 11 years that sells gifts produced in Scotland. She explained that it was the perfect place to open such a unique shop 
as so may tourists from all over the world and love the thought of a Scottish souvenir. Since then, she has opened an art gallery for Scottish artists to exhibit their work as well as a coffee shop next door. This shows the huge job opportunities that can be developed in my urban environment.
Alessandra Orofino discusses in her TED Talk video ‘It’s our city. Let’s fix it.’ (2014) that socialising is an extremely important part of the urban environment and many places are not meeting this. I can agree with her argument that public spaces where people socialised have been destroyed due to the formation of buildings. Recently, a large open area where I played as a child has been wiped out with newly built houses. Although this space is no longer available, Mauchline has a large games hall that offers various different social clubs that both children and adults can be a part of.
I investigated into the air quality my urban environment produces by using the Scottish Air Quality Website. It shows the air quality is rather low at a rate of 3 out of 10. After looking back over the past few days there is a range of air pollution varying from 3 to 10. I then questioned,is it higher on weekend days because less people are at work and are travelling around doing things with their day off causing more pollution in the air?
As a future educator, the insight into this topic has really interested me and allowed me to fully appreciate the urban environment I live in. Therefore, I am extremely passionate about teaching the younger generation about sustainability and it’s importance. I have created a lesson plan that will be appropriate for a Primary 5 class that will cover an art lesson as well as the outcome:
‘Having explored my local area, I can present information on different places to live, work and relax and interesting places to visit. SOC 2-10a’
To start this lesson, I would take the learners outdoors to explore the surroundings and really get a feel for the environment they live in ensuring I have made a safe route that gives answers to the lesson I have created. The pupils would have access to an iPad or some form of camera where they can capture photos of where they find the most interesting. Once we returned to the classroom I would divide the class into small groups where they needed to make a review to of their findings and rate it out of five stars. I would give out poster paper so they can be as creative as they want. This would give pupils the chance to explore in detail whats good about their environment and allow them to appreciate just as much as I have today.
References
European Environment Agency (2013) Urban Environment [Online] Available: http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/urban/intro
Orofino, A.(2014). It’s out city. Let’s fix it. [ video ] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/alessandra_orofino_it_s_our_city_let_s_fix_it [Accessed 22 Sep 2017]
Air Quality in Scotland (2017) Latest Pollution Map [Online] http://www.scottishairquality.co.uk/latest/?date=22%2F09%2F2017 [Accessed: 23rd September 2017].
