Back in 1898 sought to colour code every street in London, England according to seven different social classes, ranging from “wealthy” to “vicious, semi-criminal.” The resultant map is browseable online (alongside a modern companion street map).

Interestingly, as The Economist points out, many of the neighbourhoods have not changed much in their classification. Those slum houses that were destroyed and replaced with well meaning socila housing projects often retained their less desirable status. Slum houses that were spared the wrecking ball have often improved (at least of late). A companion article talks in some detail about how the 1898 map was compared to census results from 2001.

By way of Cartotalk.