The L-shape scatter is the result of a bivariate correlation where the two values diverge. For example, in an analysis of activity patterns in social housing estates, the two variables of adult movement and static uses of children formed an L-shaped distribution indicating that spaces with high movement by adults had low static presence of children and vice versa. This classic study showed the apparent ruptured interfaces between those two groups of people.
L-shape
Sources
Chapter Five: ‘Can Architecture Cause Social Malaise?’ in Hillier, B. (1996, 2007), Space is the Machine: A Configurational Theory of Architecture. Space Syntax: London, UK. pp.148-150