DME Preparation...

Congratulations again on a fantastic set of mock DME results - let's make sure we do as well (if not better!) in the real thing on 26th January...

We started our DME preparation on Monday with a general look at the resource booklet and some of the issues involved - "City Centres: Vibrant Hub or Dead Heart?".

Yesterday's lessons focused on Resources 1-4, looking at city centres as "vibrant hubs" - particularly pre-1970, with a variety of land uses such as retailing, leisure and entertainment, services such as hospitals and schools, business and enterprise and some housing - and then at some of the problems that have developed in city centres - the downward spiral of congestion, pollution, crime and neglect that have led to some city centres being described as "dead hearts". Some interesting ideas about whether Derby's city centre is a "vibrant hub" or a "dead heart" - some of you thought that the development of the Westfield Centre had had a positive impact, others disagreed...

Resource 3 started with an advert for Windmill Hill Business Park on the outskirts of Swindon. Why have developments like this one occurred? Why might a company choose to locate here instead of the city centre?

We then looked at the locations of the out-of-town shopping centres listed in Resource 3. Capital Shopping Centres own 14 shopping centres, including Braehead, Lakeside, Cribbs Causeway and the Metro Centre which were all mentioned in Resource 3, as well as the Victoria Centre in Nottingham. Their website and those of the shopping centres make for interesting reading, particularly the corporate responsbility and environment sections.

Resource 4 considered the reasons for the success of out-of-town shopping centres - increase in car ownership, "weather-free", everything under one roof... It also considered some of the reasons why some people are opposed to out-of-town shopping centres.