An Issue of Dislocation

‘As pollution, flooding, over fishing and new developments strains our relationship with water, we must ensure in urban settings, that we educate and provide experiences that highlight water as a crucial ingredient ensuring our well being. It is therefore important to promote positive relationships with the compound that sustains our life; it benefits us all and can liberate, purify, energise, recuperate, and relax us. It is paramount for communities to support sustainable industries that explore the benefits of water as a crucial part of the genius loci of their individual context'.

London Victoria to Bognor Regis direct train 

A research point of departure for the year. My personal interest in water relationships stems from my time growing up by the coast in a small Victorian seaside town called Bognor Regis, which is situated on the south coast of England. For many years I have returned from large cities back to my home town and have witnessed the urban environment stagnating economically and socially. With many places nearby attracting the majority of investment, namely Chichester and Littlehampton. It is a place with a great asset the sea! This relationship between the people and the sea is one that has always had its complications and it is one that will continue to fascinate with the continued need for sea defense and our desire to spend time on these powerful thresholds for pleasure. The recent credit crunch has meant that the stay-cation is back in favor for holidaying Brits. People escape the metropolis of London and jump on the Southern direct train to their final ill sounding destination of Butlin's in Bognor every year. 


Peak Oil, climate change and other developmental pressures are causing communities to come together to help towns and urban areas cope with these environmental transitions. I hope to explore the idea of sustainable transitions as a way of positively engaging people with the natural systems that we have become dislocated from. Water as rivers, canals and oceans are key to our well being as a species and is crucial for the sustainable regeneration of many small coastal or river conurbations.