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. 

Father and son - iconic architects

Two of London’s most iconic buildings were respectively the work of a father and son, Charles and John Barry. Sir Charles Barry was the architect of the Houses of Parliament, including the globally recognised St. Stephen's Clock Tower (home of Big Ben). His son, Sir John Wolfe-Barry (7 December 1836 – 22 January 1918) was responsible for the construction of Tower Bridge.

Sir Charles Barry also had a role in another of London’s iconic structures with his remodelling of Trafalgar Square around Nelson’s Column. The Column itself was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton. The other globally recognisable London constructions include St. Paul’s (Sir Christopher Wren), the London Eye (David Marks and Julia Barfield) and 30 St Mary Axe (the Gherkin by Lord Foster of Thames Bank).

Whether Renzo Piano’s Shard London Bridge, or any of the other towers being built in the City, enter this exclusive club is yet to be seen.

An ill wind blows east

Popbitch is not my usual source for this blog, but this week it had a little gem of a fact:

“The west of cities in the Northern Hemisphere are posher than the east because the winds blow west to east - i.e. back in the Industrial Revolution pollution drifted eastwards.”

The theory was set out in more detail on the Januarist blog. Prevailing winds would blow industrial stink over the slum housing in the east, driving the pollutants away from the upscale areas out west. On closer inspection, this theory doesn’t stack up well when applied across the whole of the Northern Hemisphere. It is especially flawed when applied to the US – think South Central, L.A., Southside, Chicago, the south-east quadrant of Washington D.C.  and the Bronx to the north of Manhatten.

But, there is obviously a grain of truth to the east/west divide. The Pet Shop Boys sang of West End Girls and East End Boys, and comparing EastEnders  with Made In Chelsea shows which side is the salubrious end of town.

London is the most obvious example of an east/west wealth divide. Heading east past the City brings you to Whitechapel, Poplar, Stratford and Canning Town. Going to the west end might take you to Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Marylebone or Notting Hill.

But it is not the only example. Glasgow has its own East End, almost as infamous in poverty and standing in stark contrast to Hillhead, Dowanhill, Kelvingrove, Kelvinside, Hyndland to the west of the city. Manchester and Leeds also have an east end of sorts – Manchester East and East End Park respectively.

In Bristol, grimy St Paul's, Easton, Eastville face Clifton, Cabot, Stoke Bishop to the west. In Sheffield the Peak District embraces westerly Hallam whilst east of the city lie the decidedly dicey Burngreave and Nether Edge. In Birmingham, Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Duddestone are east, Edgbaston and Harbone are west.  The rule even applies to my home city of Preston, with Frenchwood, Deepdale and Ribbleton stretching east from the city centre and comprising some of the poorest parts of town.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Some of London’s poorest areas are in the south, and north Kensington has historically been rough as docker’s palms. In Leicester the rule is reversed, with Leicester West being poorer than Leicester East and in Edinburgh the poorest areas are to the north.

I decided to investigate whether the historical rule applied today by inspecting the Guardian’s impressive data set mapping poverty in England. Set out in forensic and colourful detail, a patchwork quilt of deprivation and wealth emerges, stretching down to ward level and revealing stark patterns across the country. And it confirms that the ‘east is poor’ rule still, by and large, applies to the UK’s major cities.

One recent trend is to promote east end urban development and regeneration through major sporting events. The London Olympics in 2012 are the most obvious example, centred on Stratford and encompassing some of London’s poorest (and easterly) boroughs. But it is preceded by East Manchester's successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and the regeneration of Sports City and New Islington that accompanied it. It will be followed by Glasgow hosting the same event in 2014, with events and developments centred on its own East End.

So, as far as the UK goes, east is east and west is west. But, increasingly, the two do meet and often end up living in a brand spanking new apartment near a sports complex in a previously derelict side of town. 


If you liked that, try http://bitofhistoryrepeating.blogspot.com/2011/08/panic-on-streets-of-london.html for a historical view of the London riots.