Britain - a spatial analysis…
Earlier in the week, the BBC reported on the latest research findings from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The JRF has been investigating poverty and wealth across Britain, and how its spatial distribution has changed between 1968 to 2005. Despite a heap of academic research having been undertaken looking at poverty and wealth in the UK, apparently little work has been undertaken that investigates the geography of rich and poor; with their latest research, the JRF have aimed to address this.
Buried deep inside the report are a whole host of maps that illustrate a spatial analysis of Britain’s changing poverty and affluence over the last 40 years. The report and supporting data are available for download, as a combination of pdf and xls files; with a little manipulation this data could make for some attractive Google/Yahoo/Microsoft online maps.
The JRF concludes that the most significant change in the spatial distribution of wealth over the last 40 years has been the clustering of wealth and poverty. Urban clustering of poverty has increased, while wealthy households have concentrated in the outskirts and surrounds of major cities, especially those classified as ‘exclusive wealthy’, which have been steadily concentrating around London.
Pretty much every map in the report suggests the overarching spatial distribution of wealth in the UK, the north-south divide, is as pronounced today as it was 40 years ago. As the gap between rich and poor has increased, the report concludes…and I quote…‘average households are gradually disappearing from London and the south east’!
I wonder what other spatial distributions of wealth and poverty have emerged elsewhere throughout the world, over the last 40 years?
No Comments, Comment or Ping
Reply to “Britain - a spatial analysis…”