Cities shaped by software
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Cities 'shaped by software':
It's all been done before of course. In 1898, after 17 years of fieldwork, philanthropist Charles Booth published a "Map Descriptive of London Poverty". It colour-coded the capital street by street according to the old class structure: "Lowest Class. Vicious. Semi-criminal"; "Very poor, casual. Chronic want."; "Middle class. Well-to-do."
(several links to this map: U Michigan imagemap w/zoom; the Charles Booth Online Archive at the LSE; CSISS bio of Booth and the project that produced this)
It should be no surprise that, ten years into the online revolution, the net is starting to shape the way real communities are formed.
When Charles Booth drew his map, most people didn't have a choice where they lived. We do, and Neighbourhood Information Sites are beginning to have an impact on that choice. It's a small step from reading an area's profile to drawing up your own checklist of who you want to live near - and who you don't - and in America that's already happening.
Some sites surveyed in this genre:
Technorati Tags: maps, neighborhood
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