East Side

London, New York, Paris. All cities in which the most economically disadvantaged tend to live on the east side. It’s a trend that spans globally and is more than just a coincidence. Consistently, the east side of former industrial cities is poorer than any other part of the city.

Researchers from the University of Munich attempted to explain the trend. Put simply, it’s all about the wind.

The research looked at the effect of 5000 industrial chimneys on the communities of 70 English cities over the last 3 centuries. The northern hemisphere tends to have prevailing westerly winds. Air pollution would carry through and deposit soot in the eastern suburbs of the city. Inevitably less desirable and lower-priced housing attracted lower-skilled workers and commenced the cycle of socio-economic disadvantage. Moreover, factories would tend to be concentrated in the East to avoid pollution blowing over the rest of the city. Up to 20% of socio-economic segregation can be explained by pollution alone.

This trend has proven to remain even as air quality has improved and urban industrial activity has wound down. The historically underfunded schools and hospitals perpetually fail to rise to the standards of their cross-city equivalents.

The Guardian observed that distinct city distributions can be found in Old-world and New-world cities. In old-world cities like Beijing and Athens, cities were built from the inside out. By the time such cities industrialised, factories had to be built on the outskirts of town because the city centre was already occupied by sites like Forbidden City and the Parthenon. New world cities like Detroit or Manchester were purposely built for industry which explains why downtown often reflects their factory-driven past.