Sarah TAL Burgess
Geography Fieldwork
The town of Bournemouth lies on the South Coast of England, and is a well known location as a tourist resort, a residential area, and a pleasant retreat for second homeowners. However, it’s success is only recently established, as 200 years ago much of the area was barren heathland, home to smugglers and fishermen.

Map of Bournemouth showing the region of Boscombe
Bournemouth initially gained popularity as a retreat for wealthy TB sufferers. Soon afterwards, holidaymakers began to flock towards this fashionable area; Bournemouth grew in population and in size, as well as in function (it now has a well established CBD). Indeed, the 2001 census saw a population of over 160 000 (compared to a nonexistent population in 1800). - Bournemouth’s CBD area
Bournemouth has since been subject to successive steps of urbanization. The Butler Model of Tourist Resort Lifecycle is applicable here, involving not simply the town as a whole, but centering on specific locations along the coast. One such location is the area of Boscombe.
Just 5 years ago, Boscombe was rife with drug users and vandalism. The area became derelict and abandoned, void of any business which could be beneficial to Bournemouth’s residents. In order to counteract this, Bournemouth’s council engaged in a great regeneration plan, in order to encourage re-urbanization and trade in the area.
The project was launched by the sale (for £8million) of a seafront car park, and involved the building of a giant surf-reef (Europe’s first) as well as pier regeneration.

Boscombe seafront redevelopment plan involved building luxury apartments. A sign is displayed advertising “Beach Pods”.
Our fieldwork project was designed to investigate links between tourist-orientated services and residential influence. Two locations were chosen in order to test two separate hypotheses: * House prices decrease as distance from the seafront increases. * The