LONDON | POLYMAP
The streets of London are many and varied. And it's our job to help you navigate this great Shakespearean wen.
"How can you tell me you're lonely and say for you that the sun doesn't shine? Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London. I'll show you something to make you change your mind." (Ralph McTell)
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The Polymap is the very essence of the District Finder. However, before you dive into it, please be mindful of the following: depending on the speed of your internet connection, it can take a few seconds for the filters to respond. To fully understand the interactive qualities of this map, you should also read the "Map Tips" advice.
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It's also important to understand our classification scales. In the map below, the first three metrics are on a scale of 1 to 10, where Tier 1 represents the top decile (respectively: best schools performance, most leafy, or most vibrant) and Tier 10 represents the bottom decile.
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Inevitably, London (that enormous city of dreams and heartache) is our starting point. As shown in the map above, we have divided the city into 2,915 equally sized hexagons. We have then categorised each hexagon on a set of key metrics comprising, inter alia, the quality of its schools, its leafiness, its vibrancy, its affordability, its distance to the city centre and its proximity to the nearest tube/rail station. And to what end?
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Well, imagine a young couple about to relocate from Paris to London. They want to find an area that's hip and vibrant i.e. proximate to good cafés, cheesemongers and wine merchants. But they also want to live somewhere with high levels of leafiness i.e. with a low ratio of buildings to green space, with tree-lined streets, and with ready access to a large park in which they can perambulate (and put the dowdy Londoners to shame with their inimitable Parisian élan). Additionally, with a mind to the family they are planning to raise, they would like to be in a district that's blessed with good quality schools. Hmmm...trying to combine these competing demands isn't going to be easy. Especially if you add in the fact that they also want to be within 8km of the city centre; they don't want to be more than a 10 minute stroll from the nearest tube/rail station; and their budget won't stretch to properties in the "super-prime" price bracket.
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They know, instinctively, that the universe of London districts that match their lifestyle requirements is going to be very limited. And whilst the precise geographic contours of this universe remain a mystery to them, the same cannot be said of you. Because, if you use the District Finder to replicate their search, you'll notice that the set of possible locational options shrinks very rapidly.
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But doesn't the utility of the District Finder depend very heavily upon the algorithms by which we measure "vibrancy", "leafiness" and "schools quality"? Absolutely. That's why each of these metrics is unpacked, in granular detail, in the "Deep-Dive" section of this website.
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