he two maps illustrate changes taking place in the town of Sunderland from 1986 until now. Overall, the town has become more modernized over the period, with the construction of many new houses and roads at the expense of farmland areas.
Sunderland town is situated beside the River Stroke, with a bridge intersecting the main road, which runs from north to south inside the town. Over the span, the most striking change is that a number of side roads have been built off from the main road with new houses along almost both sides of them, while the river and the bridge remain intact. This means that all farmland areas now disappear. Another notable change is that a primary school in the center of the town has been expanded. On the other side of the road from this school, a post office remains, whereas a few shops nearby have been cleared to make way for a newly-built side road and residential areas.
Just south of the primary school, a garden and a footpath inside have been downsized, and there is now a retirement home inside the garden, replacing a large house in the past. Finally, a little footpath leading to the garden from the river no longer exists now.