This neighbourhood is located in South West London, in the London Borough of Merton. It has Morden to its South, Collier’s Wood to its East and South Wimbledon to its West. Merton is a unique London Borough because it is a relatively small district ranking 296th out of 326 UK districts in area size. The area includes some of London’s wealthiest suburbs, including Wimbledon. Nonetheless, the neighbourhood still has many urban qualities such as a bustling High Street. East Merton is served by Merton High Street, also known as the A238, which has a local Pharmacy, a vet, local food shops, national supermarket chains, a dentist, cafes, restaurants and pretty much anything one needs to live.

The locality’s modern history dates back to 1965 when the Borough was formed by merging the Municipal Boroughs of Wimbledon, Mitcham, and the Merton and Morden Urban Districts, all formerly within Surrey. Unlike many London suburbs, Merton as a Borough is actually quite an ethnically diverse area. The number of residents from Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds was set to increase from 37% (2014) to 40%, by 2020. In 2003, Western Europe’s largest Mosque was opened in the Borough. The Baitul Futuh mosque can accommodate 10,000 people and was built entirely from donations at a cost of £5.5 million.

The much-loved British weekly TV police show, The Bill, was filmed in Merton Studios from 1989 to the show’s end in 2010. The video game subsidiary Square Enix Europe also created the 1984 hit Tomb Raider from the studios in Merton.

One of the downsides of the area is that the High Street has begun to lose some of its local shops, most notable of which is Homebase, which will result in a huge loss to local employment. Furthermore, crime in Merton is rising; the number of people caught with guns and knives has increased by around 36%, from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018.

Merton Council have pledged to develop and renovate the Wilson Hospital in Mitcham and expand the healthcare facilities in the Borough through new developments. The facilities are expected to open by the end of 2022. Merton Council has also decided to decrease its investment in fracking and other fossil fuels from 7% to 2%, which suggests that Merton will seek other investments. In 2019, the council declared a Climate Change Emergency, as many other boroughs in London and the UK have done, and in turn has committed to stepping up its efforts to combat carbon emissions and rising temperatures.