Note: The pilot stage for this project has come to an end and the mapping section is no longer updated. The page below is for information only.

There is a wealth of detailed information that can be accessed on the interactive map. The following page will help you to use the maps to their full potential. Click on a topic or scroll down the page:

Mapping overview

Different map versions

There are a range of interactive maps to choose from on this website. Each opens up in a new window so that you can open more than one and tab between them.

The London wide map is an overview of the whole of London. It allows comparisons to be made across all of the regions and is an excellent place to start building CultureMaps.

The London wide map is set so that it displays information at quite a small scale. If you find yourself zooming in so that the labels and symbols become quite large then it is appropriate to start using the relevant Regional map.

The Regional maps are loaded at a much closer zoom than the London wide map and allow comparisons to be made across local authorities. They can also be further zoomed to ward level to produce quite detailed maps.

The Regional maps also contain a much larger selection of layers that can be loaded into the mapview and compared.

Using layers

The maps combine information from a number of different data sources. These appear as layers that can switched on and off by using the legend on the left hand side.

Try to avoid turning all of the layers on at the same time as this makes for a very cluttered map that is hard to read.

The map contains a number of 'thematic' layers. Switching them on spreads a colour palatte across the map. You cannot have more than one thematic layer on at the same time as the one higher in the legend will simply overlay and obscure the layer below.

Layers are not interdependent. So a blue thematic layer does not change its content as, for example, different types of facilities are switched on on top.

Load times

The first time that you turn on a layer it may take a few seconds to load. The map is having to call up quite detailed information from across the whole of the map.

Thematic layers take longer than the 'point' data.

Once a layer has loaded for the first time it can be turned on and off more quickly.

Map buttons & controls

The map contains a toolbar (see example on the right). Clicking on the '?' option in the launched map will give you a full rundown of functionality.

A very useful tool is the blue 'i' button. Click this and then you can hover over and/or click on features of the map for more information.
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Quartiles explained

Quartiles are used to demonstrate the thematic layers on CultureMap.

Quartiles are built by rating every super output area in London on a measure and then splitting them into four equal sized groups depending on where they rank (i.e. each contains the same number of SOA's).

When you select a thematic layer you get a spread of different shades of blue across the map. There are four shades of blue in a layer and each of these represents a quartile.

So taking the example of deprivation, if an area is colured in the lightest blue it is one of the 25% least deprived areas and if it is in the darkest blue it is one of the 25% most deprived areas. An example of the legend item for deprivation can be seen on th right.

For other thematic layers the legend item may present the quartiles as percentages. It should still be noted that 25% of the areas fall into each of the four categories (see right).

This technique allows different areas to be quickly and easily compared.

Manual zooming

Using the '+' and '-' magnifying glass buttons in the toolbar is a useful way to change the zoom level of the map.

However, it does jump in quite large stages so there are a couple of other techniques that you can use.

You can select a local authority in the 'zoom to' box on the top right of the map. This scales the map automatically.

You can also use the 'Scale 1' box to manually type in the scale that you want the map to display.