Code Red Assignment

GEOG 1HB3 – Human Geographies: City & Economy – Winter 2014 Homework Task #6 – Code Red (Reflection)

Instructions:
In lab #5 you and your class-mates discussed the many issues raised by the ground-breaking (and award-winning) Hamilton Spectator series ‘Code Red’. As part of this exercise, we want you to reflect on what you think about Hamilton, the issues of poverty and health, and the causes and consequences of each. To begin, however, it might be useful to read the final article in the Spectator series; we have posted a link to the article on A2L/Avenue under ‘Lab Materials’. Next, consider the discussion you had in lab as well as the arguments presented in the article, and think about your own views about poverty, health and social issues in Hamilton. Your reflection should be written on this worksheet and submitted to your TA in your next lab. To get you going, think about the questions below.

* What are the linkages between poverty and health?

* Aside from income, what are some of the other (proxy) measures of poverty or 
‘disadvantage’?

* What are the consequences of such a concentration of poverty in such a distinct area?

* What are the consequences of such a high degree of inequality between the ‘have’ and 
‘have not’ areas of the city?

* Who can be blamed for allowing these problems to develop in the first place?

* What can be done to resolve some of these issues, or is it too late to address them?

* Reflection: How does seeing this evidence make you feel?

As beautiful as Hamilton may appear with its gorgeous waterfalls and home to the world-renowned post secondary university, McMaster University, there lies a lot of poverty and depreciating health issues in the population of the city. There are wide economies disparities in Hamilton neighbourhoods. There is an unfortunate linkage between poverty and health in Hamilton, which in turn causes negative...