the math of geographic poverty

Equation can spot a failing neighbourhood - fundamentals - 04 November 2007 - New Scientist

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Equation can spot a failing neighbourhood

* 04 November 2007
* Marcus Chown
* Magazine issue 2628

If you worry that your neighbourhood is going downhill, there could be a way to spot the signs before it happens. You might unwittingly be living in an area designed to foster crime, deprivation and ghettoisation, according to two mathematicians who have developed a method to spot hidden areas of geographical isolation in the urban landscape.

Many neighbourhoods are cut off from other parts of the city by poor transport links and haphazard urban planning, which can often lead to social ills. "Geographical isolation is a prime cause of social deprivation, economic inactivity and crime," says Dimitry Volchenkov at the University of Bielefeld in Germany.

Sociologists think that isolation worsens an area's economic prospects by reducing opportunities for commerce, and engenders a sense of isolation in inhabitants, both of which can fuel poverty and crime. For example, Laura Vaughan at University College London analysed street-by-street poverty in London over the ...
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