Changing Places Distant Place Study: BRICK LANE Flashcards
What is the location of Brick Lane?
- Tower Hamlets borough of East London.
* Passes through Spitalfields.
How has the major industry associated with Brick Lane / Spitalfields changed over time?
- Early 17th century: popular location for breweries / market.
- Late 17th century: French Huguenots -> silk weaving.
- 18th century: Irish immigrants -> weaving / tailoring (linen).
- Now: art and fashion industries.
How has the population of Brick Lane / Spitalfields changed over time?
- Traditionally white British.
- 17th century influx of French Huguenots.
- 18th/19th/20th century influx of Irish / Jewish community.
- Recently influx of Bangladeshi immigrants -> “Banglatown”.
How have the demographic changes to Brick Lane / Spitalfields altered the area physically?
• Multicultural place.
• Variety of religious places of worship
-> Huguenot church, Methodist chapel, Jewish, synagogue, Muslim Mosque.
• Weekly Bangladesh newspaper has its office here.
What do guidebooks say that Brick Lane is the place for in London?
Good cheap curries.
What percentage of Brick Lane’s population is economically active?
80.1%
Aged 16-64.
What percentage of Brick Lane’s population is aged 65+?
What does this mean?
5.2% = low proportion of dependency.
What percentage of Brick Lane’s population is Bangladeshi?
How does this compare with London as a whole?
41% Brick Lane.
2% London.
What percentage of Brick Lane’s population is White British?
How does this compare with London as a whole?
27% Brick Lane.
47% London.
What percentage of Brick Lane’s population is Muslim?
How does this compare with London as a whole?
41.5% Brick Lane.
<20% London.
What percentage of Brick Lane’s population is Christian?
How does this compare with London as a whole?
- 4% Brick Lane.
48. 4% London.
What was the population of Brick Lane / Spitalfields in 2011 according to census data?
What percentage is male and female?
12,578 total population.
54% male, 46% female.
What is the population density in Brick Lane / Spitalfields according to 2011 census data?
How does this compare to the borough average?
145 people per hectare.
129 borough average.
Does Brick Lane / spitalfields have a youthful or ageing population?
Youthful.
What is the deprivation ranking of Brick Lane in 2010 and 2015?
2010 = most deprived decile out of 10. 2015 = 2nd most deprived decile.
True or false: Spitalfields and Banglatown was in the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England
True.
How has IMD changed in Tower Hamlets between 2010-2015?
Why?
Tower Hamlets is less deprived now than in 2010. -> due to gentrification, middle class families moved to poorer parts
Name the main social characteristics / inequalities that are present in Brick Lane / Spitalfields.
- Crime.
* Children in poverty.
How many crimes were reported in Spitalfields and Banglatown in February 2017?
What for?
338 crimes reported.
Majority for antisocial behaviour, theft, drugs.
Give the percentage of children in poverty in Tower Hamlets in 2012.
How does this compare to London as a whole?
39% Tower Hamlets.
23.5% London.
How many schools are within a 3 mile radius of Brick Lane?
336 schools.
How many schools out of the 336 in the 3 mile radius of Brick Lane have a ‘good’ ofsted rating?
150 = ‘good’
How is Brick Lane represented by art?
- Reputation for art and fashion.
- ‘The Mecca of London street art’ - London Ravish website.
- Hackney Post has interactive map of street art in neighbouring Shoreditch.
- Huge number of new galleries opening -> helped financially by gentrification of the area and increasing tourist numbers.
How is Brick Lane represented by maps?
Local artist / cartographer Adam Dant made map of Spitalfields life, 2011.
• Identifies key locations within the area today + historic background of a variety of places.
• Inc people who have made the area special eg artist Tracy Emin, chestnut seller Fred.
• Dant’s map has a strong sense of place.
• Good example of counter mapping.
Charles Booth’s Poverty Map (1890).
• Interviewed families, characterised into 7 categories eg ‘well-to-do’, ‘viscous, semi-criminal’.
• Colour coded houses of a large parts of London.
• Shows Brick Lane has a range of fortunes.
• Nearby Whitechapel -> widespread poverty.
Define counter mapping
A bottom up process where people produce their own maps, informed by their local knowledge / understanding.
How is Brick Lane / Spitalfields represented by media? (Guidebooks)
Go Britannia, travel guide.
• “An excellent place to find a good cheap curry restaurant”
• “19th century..slum of narrow alleyways..one million people were crowded..decaying houses”
• “Today is a busy narrow road”
• “You might just meet a television newscaster, a member of parliament, or another celebrity”.
- > was deprived, now thriving, popular.
- > likely biased.
How is Brick Lane / Spitalfields represented by media? (Blogs)
Spitalfields Life, the Gentle Author - 2009 daily blogs.
• Thousands of readers around the world.
• Talks about people and their lives -> culture of spitalfields.
• “Exuberant richness + multiplicity of culture”.
-> positive, depends on individual perception.
How is Brick Lane / Spitalfields represented by Poems?
Author: Sally Flood.
• “Small time drug peddlers sell their dreams”.
• “Hopeful prostitues”.
-> crime, hope - one persons interpretation.
How is Brick Lane represented by books? (Also films)
Brick Lane (Monica Ali). • Street offers opportunity, freedom, independence to a young Bangladeshi girl who immigrated for an arranged marriage. • New type of society / community.
On Brick Lane (Rachel Lichtenstein).
• “Vibrant, dynamic community”.
• “Gangsters, artists, shopkeepers, street life”
• “Always vocal people”
• Immigration -> fascists, anarchists, Jews, Bangladeshis.
Where has regeneration taken place in Brick Lane / Spitalfields?
Truman’s Brewery (1669-1989).
Market place.
Housing improvements.
How has regeneration in Brick Lane / Spitalfields changed the area?
Truman’s Brewery (1669-1989) struggled from competition of imported lagers / merges among British breweries.
-> now an 11 acre site containing exhibition space, workshops, boutiques, cafes.
17th century market place sold fruit + veg at small stalls / sheds.
-> now tourist attraction selling artwork, fashion, homewear accessories, vintage clothing, antique furniture.
Housing improvements eg Fournir Street.
-> displacement of original residents - “hotbed of immigrants”..”no longer has a fraction of the character” (The Guardian).
What did many national newspapers report on the subject of gentrification in Brick Lane / Spitalfields?
Reported many anti-gentrification protests in and around Spitalfields in September 2015.
