’London: the Information Capital’ showcases UCL data and mapping research

A new book bursting with London maps and infographics, published last week, is the result of a year of intense work by Dr James Cheshire (UCL Geography) and designer Oliver Uberti. 'London: the Information Capital' seeks to paint a contemporary portrait of the city through its abundance of open data and highlights a range of UCL research from departments including the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) and UCL Security and Crime Science. Work from UCL researchers featured in the book includes the capture of commuter flows from Oyster Card data, a new map of the demographic composition of the capital and fresh insights into huge volumes of social media data. The book contains over 100 full-colour spreads alongside essays introducing each of five broad themes - Where we are , Who we are , Where we go , How we're doing and What we like . Many of the graphics are the direct result of research that I'm working on or the results from research by friends and UCL colleagues. Whilst working on the book I would keep asking myself 'If I could map anything on London what would it be?' - Dr James Cheshire Talking about the idea behind the book, James said: "More datasets are freely available for London than ever before and our ability to make the most of them thanks to powerful computers and graphics software has never been better. Such developments, combined with the inspiring work of colleagues at UCL, meant it felt like the ideal moment to capture the depth and diversity of modern London through its data." Facts from the book include: The trains of the London Underground network log more than 75 million kilometres a year - like circling the Earth at the Equator 1,900 times.