a pre-departure geography lesson

london's comprised of 33 local authorities (including the city of london) neatly displayed in this map:



most tourist destinations are found in central london:
the rosetta stone and magna carta in southern camden; st. paul’s and the financial district in #7, the city of london; soho, the theater district, and the area generally termed as the ‘west end’ refer to westminister; notting hill/portabello market in kensington and chelsea (#2); and the globe theater and tate modern in southwark, along the thames.

compare those quintessential postcard images with the east end, home of a personal favorite, spitalfield’s. although its precise GPS coordinates shift each year, this locale generally includes the boroughs of tower hamlets and the southern part of hackney, both synonymous with poverty, overcrowding, disease and criminality (no worries, mom- guns are illegal.). X marks the spot where crisis, one of the organizations I’ll be working for, is located.

in december, england’s communities and local government (CLS) ranked the living conditions of all 354 local authorities based on seven standards: income, employment, health deprivation and disability, education, skills and training, barriers to housing and services, crime, and living environment. the CLS published its findings in the Index of Deprivation 2007. Although the winner of the most deprived borough went to a local authority in liverpool, london clenched a few runner up positions: hackney placed second; tower hamlet, third; newham, sixth; and islington, eighth. all of these boroughs are conveniently circled for you in green.

[for comparisons, sutton ranked 234; bromley, 228; and richmond upon thames, home to hampton court palace and kew gardens, 309]

because i just spent the past semester staring at these maps in URP3000, here’s a more sophisticated visual display of deprivation:

blue represents the most deprived neighborhoods; white, desirable living areas. you can double click on the image for a larger view. like many cities in the good ol’ USA, divestiture is most prevalent in city centers.

these areas are dominated by rates of high unemployment and low education, both influenced by a large concentration of immigrants. the 2001 census for tower hamlets revealed that 58% of the population is from non-white british ethnic groups. a third is bangladeshi, half of whom are under 20 years old. 36% reported speaking a language other than english at home, 12% reported speaking no english. if all goes to plan, part of my serviceship will include ESOL classes.

i can’t imagine traveling to england for remittances. the cost of living in london is outrageous, a concern i’ve worried about a couple of times since initiating this trip. it’ll be interesting to hear their stories. i’m excited. t-minus 6 days, folks. i’m ready for another adventure…