Living in Southwark

Southwark runs from the Thames at Bankside and London Bridge south to Dulwich and the edge of Crystal Palace, and it contains some of London's most varied neighbourhoods. Its northern stretch includes Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, Borough Market, the Shard and Guy's Hospital. Further south are Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Elephant and Castle, Walworth, Camberwell, Peckham, East Dulwich and Dulwich Village.

The borough has one of the largest council housing stocks in England, and many neighbourhoods combine social housing with period terraces and new developments. Regeneration has transformed Elephant and Castle, Canada Water and the riverside, while Peckham and Camberwell have become known for art, food and nightlife. Dulwich Village, in the south, is quieter and more affluent, home to Dulwich College and Dulwich Picture Gallery, the world's first purpose-built public art gallery.

Green spaces include Burgess Park, Southwark Park, Peckham Rye, Dulwich Park, Belair Park and Sydenham Hill Wood, and the Thames Path runs along the borough's northern edge. The population is young and diverse, with large West African, Caribbean and Latin American communities.

Transport is strongest in the north. The Jubilee line serves Southwark, London Bridge, Bermondsey and Canada Water, the Northern line serves Borough, London Bridge and Elephant and Castle, and the Bakerloo line ends at Elephant and Castle. Southern parts of the borough rely on Overground, Southern, Southeastern and Thameslink services and buses. The borough's range of prices is wider than almost anywhere else in London: a room in a Peckham house share and a riverside flat beside Tate Modern can be two miles and thousands of pounds a month apart.