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Sometime-y spaces
鈥�鈥淏efore you enter the estate, you鈥檒l notice there are two lampposts 鈥� the functions of these are 鈥榮ometime-y鈥�: works one at a time; doesn鈥檛鈥� work at all or dim yellow lighting鈥�
Lorraine
2 lampposts, one is broken the other works
The lamppost at the corner of your street, lighting the way as you go about your evening - Like air, it鈥檚 light is so essential you forget you need it till it鈥檚 missing. In Gascoyne Estate, people are always aware of the importance of light, safety, and rubbish-free corners because they are frequently missing 鈥� 鈥渟ometime-y鈥� as Lorraine describes it.
For Lorraine, this is linked to Gascoyne Estate being a lower-income housing area. Unlike the bright lights, well-maintained facilities, and clean spaces she often sees in higher-income neighbourhoods, Lorraine felt that infrastructure in Gascoyne Estate suffered from poor maintenance and inadequacy. Poverty leads to sometime-y spaces, as fluctuations and lulls in institutional care, attention and funding become reflected in the patchy infrastructure and environment of social housing estates.
Lorraine describes her experience of walking through Gascoyne Estate at night:
Walking home through the estate in complete darkness and having to use the light on my phone to go through. All the landing lights were off. I enter the estate from the front (Harrowgate Road entrance) to find that the two lamp posts aren鈥檛 working or partially lit鈥�
Boys also take care
The effects of dim lighting and disrepair were especially worrying for young women like Lorraine, who feared for their safety. Lorraine spoke to another young woman in her community, who recounts growing up with poor lighting:
The lighting in Gascoyne Estate has always been an issue, my mum was never comfortable with me being out at certain hours of the day鈥�
Isabelle
Boy weren鈥檛 spared either. Young men had to be careful of theft, stabbings, and physical violence as they walked through the estate late at night. For young people in Gascoyne Estate, dim lighting and high crime rates go hand-in-hand. The menace and potential danger of the dark is always real because of the stories, newspaper headlines and neighbours they know who were robbed, assaulted, stabbed.
Lorraine walking home at night using her phone light
Dim corners around Gascoyne Estate
Safety and聽health
Lorraine鈥檚 favourite place in the world is her room, because, as she explains: 鈥渋t鈥檚 a space for me to be creative, it鈥檚 a space for me to rest, it鈥檚 a safe haven for me鈥�. Lorraine鈥檚 sense of goodness rests heavily on her sense of safety 鈥� the safety to create, to explore, to rest, to move about and to be. She defines the good life as 鈥渁 safe space that can be roamed without uncertainty or constant caution鈥�. Growing up in Gascoyne Estate and having lived there all her life, it is easy to see how safety could have plays such a major role in shaping Lorraine鈥檚 worldview. Like air 鈥� the absence of which is life-changing - a lack of safety has shaped much of how Lorraine experiences the world.
Lorraine speaks of not feeling safe enough to walk alone around her neighbourhood. She finds that this impacts both her physical and mental wellbeing. Walks help her to reset at emotionally overwhelming moments in her life. Moreover, Lorraine explains:
As someone with a chronic health condition, walks are often my best mode of exercise as they are simple and effective鈥�
The terms health and safety are often bandied about for regulatory reasons, but their mutual importance to each other and a deeper sense of what safety means is often missing. Lorraine鈥檚 experiences reflect the importance of safety to health. Moreover, the way she talks about safety reveals that it means more than just protection from harm or injury. For Lorraine, safety is also linked to 鈥渞oaming鈥�; to choice and freedom.
Choice, freedom, poverty
鈥�鈥淟iving there was mainly about community. A lot of people that lived there went to the same school, so it was a bubble of familiar faces鈥�
Isabelle
鈥�鈥淕rowing up there was very busy and lively, I鈥檇 play out all the time, I developed pretty close relationship with my neighbours. Now it鈥檚 a lot quieter because a lot of people have moved out and moved in鈥�
Lorraine
Although Lorraine and the people she interviewed cherished Gascoyne Estate鈥檚 strong sense of community, being able to stay and move felt like decisions outside their control. Lorraine and Isabelle describe growing up with close neighbours and familiar faces, but Lorraine also spoke of how the community has grown quieter with people moving out in recent years. Isabelle herself had recently moved away. For Lorraine, being able to choose where to move to feels like a luxury, since social housing options are limited and private housing costly.
When describing what a good life meant to her, Lorraine also defined it as 鈥渉aving choice鈥�. Ultimately, the inability to choose; to 鈥渓ive freely鈥� and 鈥渞oam鈥�, which comes with the limiting conditions of poverty, contributes to Lorraine鈥檚 unsafe surroundings as well as the negative impacts on her health and well-being,
For Lorraine, poverty isn鈥檛 just a lack of income, it is a poverty of choice, freedom, safety, heath, well-being, and ultimately, a chance at a good life.
If you could speak to a policymaker now, what would you say?
Think further, understand the nuances of prosperity and what that means to the people their actions impact. Spend more time on the ground so more effective decisions can be made to make life better for many鈥�.
Lorraine
