Garnet's Life Adventures

A few London facts

So London is the most populated city in the European Union with approximately 7.2 million people.

Over 300 languages are spoken in the city (which you can hear while sitting on the tube each morning) & about 25% of the people belong to ethnic minority groups!

According to research by the Dept of Environment, Transport & the Regions in 1998, out of 30 districts, the most deprived one was Liverpool, with Islington 10th (right next to me) and Camden (where I live) is 17th and Wandsworth being 30th.

On an average day it is estimated that 3 million people ride the London Underground, which serves 275 stations, over 253 miles of railway, and 12,000 staff . The Underground was formed in 1985, but its history dates back to 1863 when the world's first underground railway opened in London.

This next part is primarily for my mum, who was intrigued by closed-circuit television. CCTV was developed partly in response to IRA bombings in the United Kingdom and after a few trial runs the CCTV cameras were deemed successful in the government report "CCTV: Looking Out For You", issued by the Home Office in 1994, and paved a way with massive increase in the number of CCTV systems installed.

Nowadays systems cover most town and city centres, and many stations, car-parks and estates. The exact number of CCTV cameras in the UK is not known. In 2002 it was "guesstimated" that London had around 400,000 and the total number of cameras in the UK as around 4,000,000.

Claims that they lessen the rate of crime have not been clearly shown, according to the government when properly used they result in deterrence. Cameras have also been installed in taxis and buses, to deter violence against drivers, and also in the mobile police surveillance vans.

posted by Sara @ 7:25 pm