Mapping the riots

The Financial Times and the Guardian have both published original statistical and cartographical work based on the London riots. The Financial Times has plotted the home addresses of 332 people charged with riot-related offences in London over the past month. These were then applied to a map with neighbourhoods shaded to represent one of five quintiles of deprivation (based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation).

The research reveals that two-thirds of all suspects live in neighbourhoods with below-average income, and only 3 per cent hail from the wealthiest 20 per cent of areas.

The Guardian’s work focused on the riot incidents, but then applies this to a similar map of deprivation. There is a similar correlation between the more deprived locations in London and reported incidents of riot-related criminality.