But that doesn’t say much; Britain’s diversity is not equally spread out. In Scotland just over 4 per cent of the populace was non-white, compared to 14 per cent in England and Wales. Britain’s ethnic minorities are concentrated in England, almost entirely in a select few towns and cities, such as London, Birmingham, Luton and the urban conurbations straddling West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. A white person could grow up on the coast of Yorkshire, just two hours away from one of the most diverse cities in the region, and have next to no interaction with someone of a different ethnicity. Perhaps the most startling figure from 2001 is that one in five of the UK’s minority population lived in just over one per cent of electoral wards. But even in cities with a relatively rich ethnic mix, the pattern is far from uniform. We have been able to use detailed demographic data to build a picture of diversity at a granular, neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood level. It shows that it isn’t just rural Britain that lacks diversity – a lot of neighbourhoods in our towns and cities do, too.

Men det siger ikke meget; Storbritanniens mangfoldighed er ikke lige spredt. I Skotland var godt 4 procent af befolkningen ikke-hvide mod 14 procent i England og Wales. Storbritanniens etniske minoriteter er koncentreret i England, næsten udelukkende i nogle få udvalgte byer, såsom London, Birmingham, Luton og bybyerne, der grænser op til West Yorkshire og Greater Manchester. En hvid person kunne vokse op på kysten af ​​Yorkshire, kun to timer væk fra en af ​​de mest forskelligartede byer i regionen, og næsten ikke have interaktion med en person med en anden etnicitet. Det måske mest opsigtsvækkende tal fra 2001 er, at hver femte af Storbritanniens minoritetsbefolkning boede i godt en procent af valgafdelingerne. Men selv i byer med en relativt rig etnisk blanding er mønsteret langt fra ensartet. Vi har været i stand til at bruge detaljerede demografiske data til at bygge et billede af mangfoldighed på et granulært, kvarter-for-kvarter niveau. Det viser, at det ikke kun er landdistrikterne Storbritannien, der mangler mangfoldighed - det gør mange kvarterer i vores byer også.