SOUTHWARK'S CHANGING POPULATION

Different level of deprivation and social status can sometimes lead to migration or residential mobility choices: maybe changing the place where you live can change your life too. If we think of geodemographics as the analysis of people by where they live the previous sentence is quite acceptable.

These maps show inflow, outflow and turnover rates (inflow + outflow) in Southwark for the period 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, using graduated colours with a classification algorithm that uses fixed classes and highlight the minimum and maximum outliers. There are areas where change is more rapid than in others. Especially in the north along the river there are high turnover rates, with a lot of incoming migration.

Migration inflows and outflows cause changes in population size that official statistics like the decennial Census hardly capture. To solve this problem the ONS Small Area Population Estimates Team publishes each year statistics on turnover rates at Middle Layer Super Output Areas [1]. Turnover rates x1000 people are calculated as migration counts derived by the patient's register divided by population estimates at MSOA level.

To get a feel for the types of people and the nature of the flows attracted to these areas, we present other maps of the length of residency and likely general feelings of residents about their neighbourhoods. The data used for these maps are estimated by Experian upon the UK Consumer Segmentation Database.

In the north migration is continuous with high inflows and high outflows recycling population constantly. Usually people reside here for less than one year and seldom help the neighbours. The southern part is where people tend to remain in residence for longer, help each other and consider the neighbourhood a good place to live: in these area social cohesion is high with a diffused sense of the "community".

Notes [TOP]

[1] Population Turnover data can be downloaded at http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination