9 minute read
4.3. Skatepark–skatepark network of practice (one-mode network
In this part of the research, the results of the skatepark–skatepark network are presented. Table 4 summarises the shared locations among the skater community to the sport practice. A shared location is defined as a skatepark with a specific number of links towards itself, it means that users of some specific locations also visit other skateparks. According to the findings, the following skateparks correspond to the preferred shared locations in London: Mile End (80 links), Clapham Common (76 links), Undercroft (64 links), Bay Sixty 6 (58 links) and Crystal Palace (58 links).
Advertisement
Table 4. Shared locations and sum of tie strength. Author.
Figure 10 shows twenty-nine shared locations, the sum of tie strength in the nodes ratio, and 32 London’s skateparks around the traced network (Appendix 3).
37
What represents an important finding in this section is that the most popular skatepark found in the two-mode network does not match the favourite shared location by the skater community. The Undercroft (degree = 89) was proposed as the most popular location to the skateboarding practice, nonetheless Mile End (80 links) is the shared location most used according to the one-mode network traced.
On the one hand, eighty ties or links propose Mile-End as the most popular location in the skatepark–skatepark network of practice, whereas the second location rated in shared practice is Clapham Common, with 76 ties to other locations. Consequently, the highest sum of tie strength nominates Mile End and Clapham Common (Figure 11). The previous findings of the two-mode network highlighted the Undercroft (degree = 89), Stockwell (degree = 88), Clapham Common (degree = 88) and Crystal Palace (degree = 87). Clapham Common is the second most popular location both in the two-node network and in the nominated shared location.
On the other hand, Figure 11 shows the movement of the skater community in the periphery as well. Cantelowes, with 54 links, represents a confluence point of six London’s periphery skateparks (Hemel Hempstead, Pioneer, Harrow, Normand Park, Pollar Hill and Barking). These six locations with 22 links each, show a shared practice with less concurrence but with the potential of the creation of a periphery network with a confluence in Cantelowes, North London.
39
Figure 11. London's skateparks – skateparks network of practice. Cantelowes as a confluence point. Author.
40
The concentration of the shared practiced skateparks, in Zone 2, from Mile End (East London) to Clapham Common (South London), suggest their role as a transition to the city’s core skateparks (Figure 12). Additionally, the role of the Rom with 28 links as the periphery skatepark in the filtered network appeared as well.
Figure 12. London's skateparks–skateparks network of practice. Skateparks sum of ties > 27. Author.
41
The importance of the links among Mile-End, Clapham Common and the third most shared location in the network, the Undercroft (64 links) shows the existence of an important location in the city’s core. The Undercroft was nominated as the most popular location in the two-mode network, nevertheless, the Undercroft was found to be the third shared location in the skatepark–skatepark network (Figure 13). This finding suggests that the usage of a skatepark according to its high degree, or the frequency of nominations (two-mode network) against a shared location (one-mode network), can be represented by the sum of ties of a specific location. Mile End as the preferred shared location behaves as a transition to the city’s historical spot for skateboarding practice, the Undercroft (Figure 13).
Figure 13. London’s skateparks–skateparks network of practice. Skateparks sum of ties > 56. Author.
42
Moreover, the infrastructure characteristics of the filtered network show a concentration of bowls and concrete parks in the core of the city. Mile End, the preferred shared location has a bowl and park infrastructure, Clapham Common a concrete park, the Undercroft a concrete park, Bay Sixty 6 a bowl and park and Crystal Palace a bowl (Figure 14). These findings show that there is a higher movement of users around a network of bowls and concrete skateparks.
Figure 14. London’s skateparks–skateparks network of practice. Skateparks sum of ties > 56 with infrastructure. Author.
43
The following maps (Figures 15,16,17,18) illustrates the specific characteristics of the skatepark users. The maps show information about the users’ distribution in the skateparks, the skateparks’ infrastructure (Figure 15), gender (Figure 16), age ranges (Figure 17) and users’ profession (Figure 18). The nodes were labelled by two initials S (skaters) and A (artists), with a following number, from the eighty users interviewed, seventy-eight were skaters and two were artists. All the nodes were filtered by degree; the ratio of the nodes represent the degree level (Table 5).
Figure 15 shows skateparks’ infrastructure: five from the eight locations were bowls, two of them private bowls and the three remaining were concrete skateparks.
Figure 15. London's skaters–skaters network of practice. Skateparks and infrastructure. Author.
44
Table 5 shows the sum of ties of each node > 99; these nodes represent the skaters who are more connected to the sample community, skaters that share the most locations. From the eight interview locations, no one from Mile End, the most frequented shared location, had more than 99 ties.
S76, a male skater interviewed in Crystal Palace, has the highest number of ties, 149, however among the eleven users highlighted, one was a female skater interviewed in Stockwell with 103 links.
Table 5. Sum of ties >99, gender and shared locations. Author.
The gender difference was the most striking fact that was found. Despite the aim of the study to represent gender equally, most of the skatepark users were men (Figure 16). Of the 80 users interviewed, 82.5% were men, whereas 17.5% were females. Additionally, Mile End, the preferred shared location according to the findings of this section, did not have women as users at the time of the interviews (Figure 16). Mapping skateparks users’ gender illustrated the concentration of a
45
mixed gender usage of London’s skateparks in the city’s core (Undercroft, House of Vans, Stockwell and Clapham Common) and the connection with two external locations (Bay Sixty 6 and Crystal Palace). The Rom and Mile-End have mainly male skater populations (Figure 16).
Figure 16. London's skaters–skaters network of practice. Skater’s gender. Author.
The following sociogram illustrates skaters’ age ranges (Figure 17). The Rom users have the main characteristic of being the elder people among the network as well as a peripheric location. The Rom represents the only location of the network with an average population older than forty years old.
46
Figure 17. London's skaters–skaters network of practice. Skaters’ age ranges. Author.
Likewise, Mile End, the preferred shared location, has users between 16 and 25 years old, who represent the higher percentage of the age ranges. 33.75 % of the users were 16–20 years old and 27.5% were 21–25 years old. Therefore, Mile End represents a reflection of the age range of the network.
The Rom users have the specific characteristic of being less embedded in the overall network: S7 and S3 play the role of cut-points in the network (Figure 17). SNA defines a cut-point as a group of nodes which are necessary for maintaining the connectedness of a graph (Wasserman and Faust, 1994, p. 113). The Rom behaves as an excluded location of skater–skater network of practice; nonetheless it is the only location which is popular among males older than forty years old. The Undercroft, House of Vans, Clapham Common and Stockwell tend to have stronger ties among them, however the Rom skatepark could be disconnected from the network and could keep the loyalty of its users (Figure 16).
47
The skateparks user’s characteristics mapped through the one-node network tend to highlight the Rom users as the people most vulnerable of being detached from the network of practice. Additionally, Mile End, the most popular location according to the skatepark–skatepark network, represents the location with the most diversity in users’ professions: high school students, university students, professional and workers all use the location (Figure 18). On the other hand, 18 of the 40 users of the core locations are workers, who represent the highest percentage in the network (38%) (Figure 18).
Figure 18. London's skaters–skaters network of practice. Skaters’ professions. Author.
48
It could be the case that high number of ties and the gender distribution in the skaters’ network is related to the historical skateboarding core. The following sociogram (Figure 19) shows the city’s core and how it is linked to the periphery. The case of the nodes sum ties > 99 coincide with the nodes linked with ties weight > 2. Nodes such as S37, S38 (House of Vans) and S54 (Bay Sixty 6), correspond to the users who shared the most locations.
Table 6. Skaters – skaters network. Tie weight >2. Author.
49
Figure 19. Skaters – skaters network of practice. Merged findings. Author.
50
After analysing the users’ characteristics and how they are linked in the network of practice, it can be acknowledged that a skateboarding core in London does exist. Additionally, the average NACH r: n of each core’s locations are values from 0.9312 to 1.1974, which correspond to a medium level of NACH r: n, however, core locations have higher NACH r: n than peripheral locations, whose values are from 0.8867 to 1.0907. Finding that suggest a relationship between the core strong ties and higher NACH values.
Table 7. Core Locations and NACH r:n. Author.
Table 8. Peripheral locations and NACH r: n. Author.
According to this section’s findings, London’s skateparks users’ network reinforces the existence of an inclusive core, with a variety users ages, professions and genders. A core with stronger social ties, with seven out of 40 users having total ties higher than 99 and with four locations with a higher NACH than the peripheral skateparks, are facts that prove the core’s existence. Likewise, a periphery exists, represented by four locations. Mile End was nominated as the preferred shared practice location, with a mixture of user’s professions and age ranges and the Rom’s users are loyal even though the location were to be detached from the network.
51
