Transforming the mosaic - The Visualization of Spatial Social Structure - page 147

One outlying spot in ten thousand can easily occur. Far more notice should
be taken when a clump is seen, for this is very unlikely to have arisen at ran-
dom. Spatial and temporal smoothing could have been employed here, but it is
remarkable how well the structure of local housing can be seen from the pictures
of raw information. People are quite careful how much they pay for houses; it is
a lot of money. Only maps of mortality rates are as smooth, as people are also
extremely careful about trying to avoid a premature death.
Soon after 1983, a complex pattern begins to emerge of high inflation in
the Home Counties and London, slowly moving out with a roughly ring-like
ripple shape (Figures 5.9, 5.10 and 5.11). This picture mirrors the changes in
unemployment described above. The increases become greater and greater, but
a dark core begins to form in the centre, in the heart of London (Figure 5.12).
Suddenly the darkness appears and the house price slump of 1989 is upon us 11
(Figure 5.13). Only images like these could show how this began, preserving the
detail, rather than averaging. In a few parts of central London prices fell in the
year to 1987, more falls were seen in the very heart of London during 1988, then
the whole South East turned black, but some had forseen the falls before they
came. These market-savvy individuals were selling early and a little cheaply
in the middle of the Capital just before the crisis. It is as if they had insider
information.
After the late 1980s housing bubble burst the picture soon reverted to normal
again. The static pattern for 1989 looked much like 1983, although the prices
had trebled (Figure 5.14). These images should be borne in mind, however,
in connection with other changes, and also in connection with how they relate
to changes about to be shown. Unemployment and inflation are often claimed
to be the major preoccupations of those who are about to vote: 'the economy
stupid'.
5.6 Reshaping votes
The electoral change in February 1974 was therefore quite excep-
tional, not simply in magnitude but also in direction: the British pen-
dulum stopped swinging.
(Crewe, S arlvik and Alt, 1977, p. 132)
In hindsight February and also October 1974 were key elections, points in
time when decisions began to be made that reflected great changes in underlying
trends, in this case changes towards accepting growing inequality, which began
with a question over who ran Britain. The last time change had been as great
11 'Bramley and Paice ... have calculated that, even assuming that potential buyers can raise
a 95 per cent mortgage on three times their income, one in three families living in the South East
cannot afford to enter owner-occupation' (Hamnett, 1989, p. 111).