Problem

Gentrification is a hot topic in London currently. Most people see Shoreditch, the place where the exhibition took place, as the most gentrified area in London; some even see it as over-gentrified. We asked ourselves the question: “We all know that Shoreditch is full of hipsters, but where will they migrate to next?”

Solution

To predict gentrification in London, we need to predict the sweet spot for areas that are currently deprived, but are still diverse, so ‘pioneers’ feel welcome. So, to predict gentrification, deprivation data should be combined with diversity data. Gentrification could be seen as pressure zones in weather. People are attracted to low-pressure zones until that area has too much pressure itself and people move on to other areas. Fluid simulations are therefore used to predict future patterns. Since the same techniques used to predict wind patterns can be used to predict the future of gentrification, it makes sense to visualise gentrification as wind patterns too.