Rural Case Study

Case Study for Rural Area: Isle Of Purbeck

• Location: South of England in Dorset.
• Approximately 200 km 2 and the south and the east are surrounded by water.
• One town: Swanage, several villages and a seaside resort.
• 
• Legenda: Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=isle+of+purbeck

Population

• In the past 40yrs the pop has increased.
• In 2001, the pop was 44,400 and being a lot older than the rest of England with 21% being over 65 (vs. 16%) The likely reason is the attractiveness of retirement of the area with young people leaving seeking jobs elsewhere.
• The death rate in the area was 12% per thousand and the birth rate was 10% per thousand in 2001.
• More specifically, Studland the death rate was 20% per thousand, largely due to the high numbers of elderly people living there.
• Ethnic diversity in the Isle of Purbeck is minimal. Over 98% of the pop is white (vs. 91% in the rest of England). Ina 2001 Census:
• Group Percentage
• White 98.8%
• Mixed 0.4%
• Asian/Asian British 0.1%
• Black/Black British 0.1%
• Chinese/Other 0.6%

Housing Probelms

• Cost of housing in the area has risen at a fast pace in the last few years largely due to the migrants, second home owners and retirees. As there's a lot of people trying to purchase a small number of homes, the cost has risen , forcing locals out of their area. This problem is worsened by low pay and lac of jobs.
• The housing problem can cause animosity towards any newcomers to the area of high density migration, causing social discrimination.

Services

• The quantity and quality of services has had a sharp decline in the Isle. General stores are rarer, with three out of four villages having none. Post offices along with petrol stations and public houses are closing down.
• The number of surgeries, in contrast, has risen to 9 from 1991 and no schools have closed.
• Comparing the services of villages, they all have different services even if similar in population. As the village of Corfe Castle, a prominent tourist attraction, has significantly more services available than Langton Matravers, despite their similar populations of 980 (CC) to 910 (LM).
• Langton Matraves lacks a Post office, petrol station, general store, GP surgery or any food shops. Whilst Corfe Castle has 16 shops, a petrol station, post office and 4 public houses.

Slide 5