The map: Artists in residence

For the last year or so, Shoreditch has been touted as the country's most hip and happening place. Located just beyond the fringes of the City of London, the area has attracted artists and designers with its low rents and live/work developments. Inevitably, it's becoming so trendy and expensive that many of these artists are now being forced to leave. And prices are set to rise further, especially if the place ever gets a decent supermarket.

1. Hoxton Square Much of the square has been redeveloped. Number 8-9 is a studio housing sculptors, filmmakers, designers and B2, a store selling products from local designers. The square is also home to the Lux, a purpose-built multimedia centre with gallery, cinema and production facilities. Next door is the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, run by Patrick Franzen and Andreas Akerlund, the Swedish duo famed for the Living Room and Two Floors cafes in Soho.

2. Blue Note Club, Hoxton Square Once occupying the site of the old Bass Clef jazz club (in a building which had housed metal merchants), the seminal Blue Note nightclub played host to some legendary nights including Goldie's "Metalheadz" and Talvin Singh's "Anokha", the original Asian Underground night. Tragically, it's been converted into loft apartments.

3. Jarvis Cocker, Haberdasher Street Pulp's main man has shunned the luxury of west London for the cred environs of Hoxton, but has opted for a house, rather than the trendier and more predictable warehouse conversion.

4. 333, Old Street Formerly the London Apprentice, the noted gay pub, this is now a club run by the people from the Bricklayers (see 10), hosting some of the most directional club nights in London.

5. Stirling Ackroyd, Rivington Street Housed in an old cabinet workshop, this estate agent has been working in the area for decades. It will happily sell you a fully fitted 2,000sq ft warehouse conversion for a mere pounds 400,000-pounds 750,000.

6. Alexander McQueen, Rivington Street The biggest name in British fashion stays true to his East End origins, running his label from a studio on Rivington Street; blame him for all for the lost models trying to find their way to a casting.

7. Strong Room, Curtain Road Established 14 years ago, the Strong Room is one of the largest independent recording studios in the world, attracting such diverse talents as The Spice Girls, All Saints, The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers.

8. Curtain Road Arts, Curtain Road This complex of a dozen studios has been housing working artists and putting on art shows for six years. In June, though, it is being forced out by the inevitable escalating rents.

9. SCP, Curtain Road Until the late Sixties, Curtain Road was a manufacturing centre for furniture. SCP revives the connection, selling Brit designers like Tom Dixon and Michael Marriott.

10. Bricklayers Arms, Charlotte Road This pub has long been a magnet for Shoreditch's hip crowd, and now gets cab loads from all over town. It's ram-packed most nights of the week: come summer, the overspill fills Charlotte Road.

11. Great Eastern Dining Rooms, Great Eastern Street Opened by the owners of the Cicada restaurant in nearby Clerkenwell, who realised that the local movers and shakers would need somewhere appropriately cool to eat.

12. Dragon Bar/Home Bar & Kitchen, Leonard Street Situated at either end of Leonard Street. The Home Bar was one of the first smart bars to exploit the Shoreditch scene, and the Dragon Bar is the latest addition, with an interior co-designed by artists Jake and Dinos Chapman.

13. Factual Nonsense, Charlotte Road

Joshua Compston ran Factual Nonsense, a gallery and general art HQ, from 44 Charlotte Road from 1992 until his death in 1996. He was linked to the stars of Brit Art - Gary Hume, Gavin Turk, Tracy Emin, Sarah Lucas - staging infamous events including 1993's A Fete Worse Than Death where Damien Hirst sold Spin paintings for pounds 1.

14. The Prince of Wales Foundation for Architecture and the Urban Environment, Charlotte Road Royalty moves to the area in December, when Prince Charles arrives with his architectural foundation.

15. Charlie Wrights International Bar, Pitfield Street Something of an institution, this is arguably the only place in the area where the new Shoreditch swingers rub shoulders with the locals.

16. Dazed & Confused magazine, Old Street The so-hip-it-hurts style magazine moved from Soho to Old Street. It has since expanded, and now runs a gallery from the ground floor.

17. Ironmonger Row Baths, Ironmonger Row The only recreational centre in the area, Ironmonger Row dates from the Thirties and has a pool, Turkish baths and gym facilities. Popular with everyone as an affordable place to relax.

18. Circus Space Located in the old Shoreditch Electricity building, Circus Space is one of only three major centres for circuses in Europe. It runs courses in contemporary circuses and classes for beginners. Circus Space is also training the aerial performers for the Millennium Dome

19. Cantaloupe, Charlotte Street One of the first bars to capitalise on the boom: it opened in 1995. Packed out with City boys and hip young things.