Accessibility and Social Exclusion in Peripheral Territories: The Case of Scarborough, United Kingdom

This chapter aims to demonstrate the challenges facing a remote, non-metropolitan region in the United Kingdom, in terms of improving transport and accessibility for households. It uses the case of Scarborough Borough, North Yorkshire, to provide an example of a predominantly rural, remote territory with transport and accessibility challenges associated with its peripheral location. In particular it focuses on the problem of social exclusion that afflicts certain residents in the region, who struggle to access key health and education services, employment opportunities and leisure activities due to an over-burdened transport network. By analysing the socio-economic profile, as well as the institutional and infrastructural problems of Scarborough Borough, it establishes the constraints under which the municipal authority operates. Further, it demonstrates how these challenges inhibit long-term infrastructural planning and the establishment of efficient, inexpensive public transport by local and regional transport policymakers. Finally, the chapter outlines recommendations on how these areas can be improved by transport planners at a range of levels; municipal, regional and national. In doing so it offers insights for comparable regions facing similar problems across Europe, and further afield.