Connections and Disconnections on City Road, Cardiff

Drawing on Chapter 3 ‘Connecting Lives’, the ‘Connecting Lives’ film, as well as your feedback from TMA 01, define ‘making and remaking’ and outline examples relating to connections and disconnections on City Road.

City Road is a rich, cosmopolitan vein, running through the heart of Cardiff. Connections and disconnections are in a constant state of flux here. Making and remaking can be defined by how the area adapts to change. It examines the two way relationship between an individual and society. People create and recreate   businesses, lives, interactions on City Road and their connections and disconnections are what contribute to the making and remaking of this polyculture Cardiff zone. In this short essay I aim to highlight the making and remaking process using examples of three different real people on City Road..

Iraqi restauranteur, Nof Al-Kelaby, once the proprietor of successful party venue, The Hawaiian, and now the manager of La Shish, is an example of someone who has adapted to change. New developments in the city led to growing competition for Nof’s original venture and he was forced to adapt. Competition forced disconnections as the client base went down due to: ‘demographic changes in the area.’ (Open University 2025). He somewhat, in the process of remaking, touched base more with his Iraqi roots by allowing his new restaurant to appeal to a Middle Eastern customer base. Nof’s identity crisis has brought him full circle and he proudly enjoys identifying as an immigrant. However, at times disconnections that Nof exploits as an entrepreneur can be damaging. For example, after graduating Nof applied for over 250 jobs yet was turned down for all. This smacks off latent racism or discrimination. Nof rose above, however, and launched the Hawaiian. Nof’s journey Is a circular journey and in his own words Nof is back with his ‘urban roots’(The Open University 2025). Nof demonstrates how connections can be made and remade and is a great example of making and remaking on `City Road.

Shari Hall brings to City Road what was initially a disruptive technology in the creation of her blog. After hard work setting it up, the blog now entertains a global fanbase. She brings technology to businesses in the area and gives them exposure to markets that they would otherwise not enjoy. Shari faced a lot of work in getting many untrusting businesses involved and had to attend many face-to-face meetings thus expanding her connections. Shari is surprised at how ‘businesses sort of rise and fall on City Road.’ (Open University 2025) This is the cycle of making and remaking. The connections in the virtual world on Shari’s blog enhance life on City Road and add to it as a beacon of multiculturalism and diversity. Turkish kebabs from Cardiff can now be discussed directly in Istanbul thanks to Shari. Shari has created a plethora of virtual connections for City Road.

John is homeless and his life’s journey has brought him to sleeping rough behind Tesco’s. He is on the bottom rung of the ladder of life and things could seemingly spiral out of control for homeless people whereby…’disconnections can lead to further disconnections’ (The Open University 2025). John, however, is not totally disconnected and in the face of bottles being thrown at him on the street, this can be counter-balanced by kind students giving him cups of tea and the Salvation Army and soup kitchens providing blankets. It all contributes to the making and remaking on City Road as characters on the downward slopes of life equally make up the space alongside the more successful (and visible) entrepreneurs.’ As fluid as we regard making and remaking in the case of John and others at the foodbank, life can be difficult: ‘Not everyone is able to make new connections from disconnections.’ (Harvard C, 2022: 67). There is an imbalance of power in John’s life as he is in no position to decide about the connections and disconnections that are forced upon him due to his low social status as a homeless person. There are a multitude of disconnections in John’s life.

We have looked at three examples from the video on Connecting Lives. These three unique characters have all had to adapt and by creating connections and disconnections they succeed in making and remaking life on City Road. I think that a clear message from all three is the need to adapt and go with the flow and to flourish on City Road this is essential. It can be noted that not all disconnections and connections are obvious but that they all contribute to the making and remaking of life on City Road.

737 words

References

Havard, C. (2022) ‘Connecting lives’, in Allen, J., Blakeley, G. and Staples, M. (eds) Understanding social lives, Part 1. Milton Keynes: The Open University, pp. 57–82.

The Open University (2025) ‘Connecting Lives’. DD102 Introducing the social sciences. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=1908677&section=2 (Accessed: 23 February 2025).