London's central core never experienced the deterioration many American downtowns lived through, but the inner city/suburb dynamic was still at play. Now poverty is moving outward.
According to a report by the Smith Institute, many UK suburbs are experiencing slow economic declines. In London, where wealth in the central city has skyrocketed, outer areas are becoming the go-to residence choice for people without the means to stay.
John Bingham writes, "[The report] shows that while the worst pockets of deprivation are still to be found in deprived areas near the centre of cities, overall the rates in inner city and suburban areas appear to be going in different directions. In outer London boroughs the proportion of the population classed as living in poverty after housing costs jumped from 20 per cent in 2002 to 24 per cent in 2013. But in inner city areas it remained stable, edging up from 33 per cent to 34 per cent in just over a decade."
In central areas, there have been instances of public council housing giving way for luxury development. "The study also notes that, while inner city areas have seen much more rapid population growth overall, evidence is emerging of 'social cleansing' in increasingly expensive urban areas - pushing poorer people towards the suburbs." The report also discusses ways to combat these trends.
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