You can now predict London's next gentrification hotspot using social media

Uploaded photos point to next areas to be gentrified, say data researchers
Street art of Frida Khalo by Zabou and Villana in Hackney Wick, one of London's cultural hotspots

Photographs uploaded to social media have been analysed by researchers to calculate London’s cultural “health” — and help predict the rate of gentrification.

Data scientists looked at millions of images taken by people at arts, music and science culture events across the capital over the past decade, which they said can help measure prosperity.

Software examined variables in the pictures such as smiling people eating, different types of arts events and even content-looking dogs.

The data collected was “directly tied to the growth of certain neighbourhoods, rising home values and median income”, researchers said.

The study, published in the Frontiers in Physics journal, used public images uploaded to Flickr in London and New York.

They were taken by people at cultural events, such as festivals, cinemas, art exhibitions, music shows, plays, museums and tech demonstrations.

Pictures of people buying papers at newspaper stands and visiting the library were also assessed. The Nokia Bell Labs team used the GPS tags embedded in the image to find out its location and time taken before adding it into one of 25 categories.

Another Time Another Place: Hackney in the 70s and 80s

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The boroughs that showed the greatest level of “cultural capital” were Camden, home of the British Museum, Islington, which counts Sadler’s Wells among its arts institutions, and also Hackney, Kensington & Chelsea and Southwark.

Cultural capital was a term coined in the Seventies to show how knowledge, education, cultural interests and exposure to creative pursuits were social assets.

According to the data, those showing the lowest levels of cultural capital were Merton, Hillingdon, Sutton, Croydon and Bromley.

Researchers said the maps could be used to anticipate where gentrification might occur, which could help stop people being displaced.

To see the Cultural Analytics map of London click here

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