Characteristics
Geography: Edexcel A Level, topic 6.6.2
Ethnicity and Demography of Tower Hamlets
The Tower Hamlets/Brick Lane area is the heart of the Bangladeshi-Sylheti community. The area is split for the census into Spitalfields and Banglatown and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH).
Demography
- According to the 2011 census, the population for Spitalfields and Banglatown Ward was 12,578.
- 6782 males (53.9%) and 5796 females (46.1%).
- The population density was 145 people per hectare (LBTH average of 129 people per hectare).
- There were slightly fewer residents aged 0-15 years old than the LBTH average.
- Spitalfields and Banglatown Ward has a high proportion of its population in the 20-40 age group – these are economically active people including immigrants.
Religion and race
- The dominant religion is Islam.
- There is a much lower proportion of residents who are white British in Spitalfields and Banglatown than the LBTH, and national, average.
Socio-Economics of the Tower Hamlets Area
Deprivation is widespread but gentrification has started to improve things.
Deprivation
- Deprivation is widespread in Tower Hamlets council (LBTH). The borough is one of the most deprived areas in the country.
- But the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation found fewer areas of LBTH to be among the most deprived 10% in England compared with 2010.
Gentrification
- Gentrification has accounted for some of this improving trend as middle-class families moved into traditionally poorer parts of London.
- Some poorer people have moved to boroughs in the outskirts where housing costs and rents are lower.
- The inward movement of art galleries and their owners, with associated tourist activity, has also played a role in making the area more fashionable.
Test yourself on Characteristics
What was the population density of the Spitalfields and Banglatown Ward in the 2011 census?
What is the dominant religion in the Spitalfields and Banglatown Ward?
What has accounted for some of the improving trends in LBTH?