In comparison to the UK as a whole, Portsmouth is perceived as a relatively deprived City, being 4th worst in the south east of England according to Portsmouth’s Local Development Fund Core Strategy Issues and Options. With unemployment rates 1.9% above the national average and weekly earnings £29 lower too. Housing stock is generally in poor condition with centrally heated homes being the fewest in the region, at 7.9% below the national average and the greatest number of homes in the UK without their own bath or toilet. Education is in turn has also been effected, with scores in all exams continuously falling below the national average. Although Portsmouth’s population caries better health than for most of the UK, crime is at an all time high, with violence almost double the South East average. Due to these factors the most deprived areas of Portsmouth are found in Charles Dickens, Paulsgrove, Cosham and St Thomas, for which Neighbourhood renewal funding was awarded up until 2006.
Through surveying our own route, our travels touched the southern tip of this area, where we witnessed some efforts of new re-build of housing and services to help improve the area. Our route however, continued through the areas of Fratton and Somers Town which have just missed out on this funding, which as a result have suffered neglect, becoming well known areas of deprivation.
To continue trends to improve the city, Portsmouth is bidding to become a designated growth point. The aims are to grow the economy, providing diverse opportunities for businesses to develop, whilst extending the national housing supply and adding to public buildings serving the community. These plans will extend the areas developed from the 2006 funding into our studied zones around Commercial Road and onto Somers Town. Proposals in these areas for new housing are being drafted up despite Portsmouth owning a substantial amount of housing stock and a falling trend in local population levels by almost 10,000 since 1970. This is in part to resolve problems with declining levels of availability, where family trends are tending to single occupancy households. In many cases, current dwellings in these areas are often of the wrong sort and are unable to meet the needs of today’s living, providing requirements for Portsmouth to construct a new range in type and size of housing.
New developments however, have proved problematic for Portsmouth, where in being one of the most densely populated cities outside London, with a lack of Greenfield sites, with all parks under development protection and emerging flood issues associated with sea level rises, new sites for housing and businesses are difficult to find.
For these reasons Portsmouth City Council is aiming to develop areas already occupied the most unsuitable of existing buildings and are forced to build new projects, with higher density designs. With this in mind, much of the proposed development into our research areas consist of high level, high density housing, already apparent in Somers Town, yet with previous projects of a similar nature failing to produce a positive Social Environment, many local residents have been objecting to these new plans.
In looking at existing figure ground maps, Somers Town appears very open and people friendly, however as seen in these accompanying photographs, in walking at ground level, the area takes on a very different character. 
In an area where much of the community rent low cost dwellings unable to afford to buy their property, incentives to improve or care for the building stock are often non-existent. The poorly-maintained homes in Somers Town, often sit divided between high level fencing of ball courts and multi-storey car parks, required by modern day living, to accommodate the 18 storey tower blocks which cast much of the area in continuous shade. Much of these boundaries block social interaction within the community and in a vastly uninspiring context, my experiences of Somers Town was that of a community lacking care and respect. Without any one person being responsible for a particular area or having claims for its upkeep and protection, I felt no-one could rightly serve any complaints arising from its use. In this factor, I not only noticed the amount of litter, vandalism and graffiti, but that many flats were comfortably disturbing the peace by selfish means of playing loud undesirable music and “joyful”, noisy riding of vehicles around the tracks of road encompassing the accommodation blocks. 
As it turned out, enjoyable, open play areas were few and far between, being often located away, out of view from many of the homes situated there. My thoughts and feelings of this were that children would either be forced to play in the unsuitable street areas amongst the parked cars, in view of their homes, or 
be left unattended, able to run free as they pleased. Walking through this area I often felt vulnerable, with many nooks and corners forming dark hiding places and preventing my awareness of any upcomings. 
This unpleasant, unwelcoming feel is further enhanced by the layouts of the building, where as shown in the figure ground, many literally urn their back on you and provide very little interest in their façade presentation. 
The constructions in this area are generally regarded as modern, being developed between the Second World War and today. This perception is especially true when viewed in its context surrounded by many Victorian terraced streets. It is no wonder that any further new development is viewed with caution with nearly all questionnaires returned stating their scepticism over extra high level development in this area.
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