Why we love it
In wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, we all became accustomed to living in our bedrooms, kitchens and for the more fortunate, gardens. This analysis takes a deeper look at the average garden size per property, in various cities across the country. The patterns and trends that emerge from the analysis provide interesting insight to how much private green space we really have access to (on average) in different parts of the UK. This garden analysis combined with the recent surge of home-owners relocating to the countryside, may indicate the new priorities for purchasing a property.
Why it works
The map of garden sizes across London shows a clear trend, highlighting larger gardens as you travel further from the city centre. This combined with the comparison of cities statistics, creates an interesting piece of analysis drawing attention to where in the UK garden sizes really are larger.
Requirements
Data and software
Esri UK created the analysis and map using ArcGIS Pro 2.6, using data from the latest MasterMap Topography Layer® from Ordnance Survey (OS), Office of National Statistics and Valuation Office Agency.
Analysis
Esri UK extracted the garden features from the OS MasterMap Topography Layer, then calculated the size of each area. Creating a sum value of total garden size for each Local Authority, they then divided this by total number of properties (VOA) in that same Local Authority. The ONS data was then used to identify the most populated cities.
Time
The map creation took several days to run, mainly due to the large number of polygon features spanning across GB. Once the garden size had been calculated, the visualisation was quicker to create.
Tips and tricks
Removing the basemap entirely allowed for a clean look, focusing the attention on the colours rather than the unnecessary background info. This approach may not work when you don’t have recognisable features (such as the River Thames).
Using a virtual machine to run the analysis allowed for the tools to run overnight and avoid hitting the local machines spec limits.
Adding a faded mask to the area outside of London naturally draws the readers eye to your area of interest, without inserting boundary lines that can often be disruptive to the cartography.
Statistics
City |
Average garden size per property (m2) |
Total area of gardens (m2) |
Number of Properties |
Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Leeds |
181 |
64,120,038 |
355,030 |
795,565 |
Bradford |
178 |
38,755,812 |
218,190 |
540,909 |
Sheffield |
171 |
42,748,311 |
249,900 |
589,710 |
Birmingham |
171 |
75,917,609 |
444,440 |
1,152,785 |
Greater Manchester |
156 |
191,714,856 |
1,228,110 |
2,844,611 |
Coventry |
154 |
22,053,813 |
142,770 |
378,966 |
Sunderland |
142 |
18,432,390 |
129,880 |
277,540 |
Nottingham |
133 |
18,558,665 |
139,150 |
333,963 |
Leicester |
127 |
17,689,284 |
139,330 |
360,557 |
Bristol |
124 |
25,105,453 |
201,980 |
471,344 |
Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
121 |
16,157,541 |
133,970 |
302,680 |
Liverpool |
111 |
25,408,380 |
229,550 |
502,326 |
Brighton and Hove |
111 |
14,391,869 |
130,210 |
293,917 |
Greater London |
100 |
364,533,429 |
3,642,640 |
9,039,389 |
Map Author
Sam Bark
Sam Bark is a Cartographer on the Product Communications team at Esri UK. Aside his passion for map design, Sam’s other interests extend to fair-weather cycling, London’s diverse food scene and photography.