More Than A Ship - MMD#378
Good day my good friend.
I always knew that the Foo Fighters were some of the good guys. The news that David Grohl likes his trains prompted me to listen to The Color And The Shape all weekend, bringing back memories of rocking to Monkey Wrench and My Hero at home when I was 15. It was a good weekend, I assure you.
If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.
Mobility Camp is taking place on 29th September 2023 in Birmingham. It would be great to see you there. Get your tickets now.
James
The greatest generation
During the last week, the UK celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the Windrush arrivals. These arrivals built the UK as it is today, and how they have been treated is nothing short of horrific. And the Windrush Scandal was the least of the issues that they faced. I went to a temporary exhibition in Huddersfield Town Centre with good friend Jo Ward last week, and learned so much about the experience of that generation. I highly recommend going to see it.
As always, there is an interface with transport. Not only is that generation named after one of the first ships that brought them to the UK, but this generation broke many social taboos using transport. The most famous being the Bristol Bus Boycott against the racial discrimination not just by the Bristol Omnibus Company, but much more widely in society. Yet, they still face such discrimination. Talking to a friend in Huddersfield who wishes to remain nameless, her black husband was stopped by police 10 times in the last year for no cause, twice with her present.
The establishment and growth of ethnic neighbourhoods
This generation arrived in the UK, and clearly needed to establish itself and set down roots. But how is that done? The social commentary rightly says with great difficulty. Just looking at transport we know that the transport characteristics of such communities varies significantly from the national average. And work on social exclusion shows how these issues are still playing out now. But how does such communities propogate and grow?
Some recent analysis from the USA gives some insight. An interesting finding is how such neighbourhoods are often small and disappear within 10-20 years, but the largest persist so long as there is a well-defined spatial structure, and the same goes for the population as well. It doesn’t answer every question, but it gives insight as to how such communities emerge, and in some cases disappear.
Random things
These links are meant to make you think about the things that affect our world in transport, and not just think about transport itself. I hope that you enjoy them.
China scientists turn to ‘Terminator’ liquid metal in alloy breakthrough (South China Morning Post)
What Is Extreme Tourism For? (Defector)
New windfarm could be used to power North Sea oilfield (The Guardian)
River Thames was pumped full of oxygen in 2022 to prevent fish deaths (New Scientist)
Wage-price spirals are far scarier in theory than in practice (The Economist)
Something interesting
Geoff Marshall videos are must-watch at the best of times, but when he goes on an adventure they are even better. This video is the first of a series visting the Heart of Wales Line (or Lein Calon Cymru), a wonderful rural railway trundling its way through Wales.
If you do nothing else today, then do this
Read this LinkedIn post by Victoria Mulligan on rethinking the problem. I completely agree with this.