Carrying on from deciding Roots would be used as a base for a collaborative brief, as a group we started mind mapping some ideas for a brief we could undertake as Roots.
We started off by outlining the problems Leeds faces, as we wanted to create a solution to a problem that is local to us, as one of Roots aims is to solve local issues and helping the community.
Problems of Leeds:
- Litter
- Violence (drunken disputes, racial, people feel unsafe, sexual, burglary)
- Poverty (food banks)
- More attractive boardings/building sites
- Cycle trails
- Environment (more green spaces)
- Segregation (culture, class, social, racial)
- Empty buildings (wasted space, ugly/unsightly, by new John Lewis building)
- Transport (congested roads)
- Theft (student affected, vulnerable people - OAP, disabled)
- Homelessness (desperation, roof over their heads)
- Bin covers (Hungry Sandwich Club)
We decided that cycling and traffic congestion in Leeds is a major issue, as this is something everyone faces on a day to day basis, and it can have serious consequences on peoples health and lives. We then expanded on this idea to see if it had potential to be a large enough issue for us to explore.
Cycling in Leeds:
- Difficult when lots of parked cars
- Taxi's aggressive fast driving
- Drivers don't tend to like cyclists (slow getting up hills, Leeds is hilly)
- Cyclists could be more visible (student cycling population need more guidance on safety when cycling - helmets, hi-vis gear)
- Encourage more people to cycle (Cambridge, Amsterdam)
- Too much traffic to cycle comfortably
- Find out who cycles the most (students or young professionals)
- Cycling facts
- Deliveroo (more cyclists due to)
After expanding on this topic and discovering that actually this is an area that has a lot of depth and loads of different elements to it, that could involve some interesting research, we came up with a plan to do some more background research on the topic over the next few weeks to get a better understanding of cycling in Leeds.
We don't want to much too much pressure on ourselves to do this brief quickly and straight away, as Context of Practice is going to take top priority and we all have other competition or live briefs that are more pressing due to time restraints which will require our attention before Roots will do.
Research topics:
- WHO cycles in Leeds - percentages - students, young professionals etc?
- MEASURES in place to aid cyclists - is Leeds cycle friendly, is cycling encouraged, are their incentives by universities or companies for cycling etc?
- EFFECTS of traffic/congestion in cities
- ALTERNATIVE public transport that could help unclog Leeds
- POLLUTION levels in cities - who suffers? Would cyclists inhale more pollution that car drivers or walking pedestrians?
- CYCLING STATS (deaths, percentages etc)
Added thought:
After having an offhand discussion whilst blogging about the Roots brief idea, it occurred to us that one of our members Daisy lives and studies in Amsterdam, and it would be really great to interact with her on this brief, rather than just focusing on the three of us who are still in Leeds. This could open up some really interesting opportunities for us, connecting Leeds to Amsterdam. Amsterdam also has really great cycle facilities and lanes, and the Netherlands as a whole is a very cycle friendly country. This could be great to compare cycling in Leeds with cycling in Amsterdam, and potentially taking things Amsterdam does well related to cycling and injecting them into Leeds. This research could be done solely by Daisy herself in Amsterdam or we could potentially have a short break in Amsterdam to research it for ourselves, test out the cycle system by renting bikes, and keeping a log of our experiences.
However, this is only an initial thought that would have to be thoroughly discussed with all members, including Daisy if she was willing to participate, if this was something that would be feasible, and something that we actually WANT to do.
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