Abstract
The focus in this chapter is on geodemographics—essentially the analysis of people by where they live—from the perspective of those involved in planning and policy-making. Like other analysts, they seek to distil the main sources of social and economic variation in cities. However, what distinguishes them is usually some practical purpose directly related to policy formulation, analysis, and evaluation. The chapter takes the form of an historical review in which four main themes are examined: (1) early efforts to apply rudimentary geodemographic classifications, in order to inform and influence policy; (2) harnessing advances in computing and multivariate statistics that make it possible to handle the large datasets needed to explore urban spatial structure; (3) pioneering applications of geodemographics to enable local authorities to identify multi-dimensional needs and to indicate priorities for spatial targeting of resources, and (4) geodemographics in action as an evaluation tool to measure the success of spatial targeting of area-based policy initiatives and identify potential improvements. In a final section, some aspects of the present status of geodemographics are considered and related to the findings of the historical review.
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Notes
- 1.
Harris et al. (2005, p. 17) suggest that Tobler’s Law should be modified when viewed in a geodemographic context: not only are nearby populations related but so too are populations living in the same type of neighbourhood. In other words, near and far things are related—by neighbourhood type.
- 2.
- 3.
The work is divided into three parts: the Poverty series (four volumes); the Industry series (five volumes); and the Religion series (seven volumes). The final volume is a conclusion to the whole work.
- 4.
Such classifications became known as fuzzy geodemographics, in view of the overlapping cluster boundaries. See Flowerdew and Leventhal (1998).
- 5.
At this time, Thornthwaite was working as an urban geographer. Later in his career, he was to become a renowned climatologist, known for a climate classification still in use more than 70 years after it was first conceived.
- 6.
Over time the term ‘social area analysis’ has been used in a number of different ways. For example, later in this chapter, the term will be used again to refer to work carried out in Liverpool in the late 1960s and 1970s.
- 7.
An enumeration district was the area covered by a single census enumerator, distributing and collecting census forms.
- 8.
Sub-divisions consisted of a mix of smaller local authority areas and sub-divided larger local authority areas. They were used extensively by local planning authorities at that time to analyse population and employment change.
- 9.
Inner London represented the area covered by the old (pre-1965) London County Council. There is no evidence that the Centre for Urban Studies team produced an enumeration district classification for the entire Third Survey study area.
- 10.
Table 1.2 shows location quotients that compare the cluster mean value of a variable with the Inner London value of the same variable. A quotient of less than 100 indicates the variable is under-represented in a cluster while a value of more than 100 indicates over-representation. See Batey and Brown (1995, pp. 95–102).
- 11.
The 1966 10% Sample Census was intended to plug the gap left between decennial censuses which was felt to be too long. However, sample censuses have never been repeated, largely because of difficulties in measuring change at a local level caused by incompatible enumeration district boundaries, confidentiality problems, and sampling error.
- 12.
For example, in 1972 the present author carried out a multivariate analysis, at ward level, of the 1966 Census for the Greater Manchester area. The approach taken was strongly influenced by the Greater London studies.
- 13.
The Third Survey reports were announced as ‘forthcoming’ as late as 1973 (Glass 1973). A Fourth Survey, Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London (Buck et al. 2002) was carried in the late 1990s and published to coincide with the centenary of Charles Booth’s survey in 2002. Based on an extensive programme of interviews across London and on detailed analysis of socio-economic data, the book’s main message was that despite London’s outstanding economic success as a global city, the city’s prosperity was unequally distributed and was increasingly marred by social exclusion and deprivation.
- 14.
For a full account of the Los Angeles Community Analysis Bureau, see Light (2003, pp. 78–83).
- 15.
See Flynn et al. (1972) for a comprehensive account of the Social Malaise Study.
- 16.
Webber (1975, p. 12).
- 17.
Some of the controversy arose because of the sensitive nature of the data being collected and the probability that some areas would be stigmatised as a result of high social malaise scores. The social malaise report was duly marked as ‘highly confidential’.
- 18.
Inner Area Studies were commissioned by the UK Government in the early 1970s and were concerned with developing policy responses to a growing problem of multiple deprivation in the inner cities of England. Three studies were carried out: Liverpool, Birmingham, and Lambeth (London).
- 19.
In 1974 the system of local government was re-organised and a new, two-tier system of counties and districts was introduced. Local authority boundaries were comprehensively revised, hence the need to understand the socio-economic spatial structure of the new authorities.
- 20.
The term ACORN was an acronym for ‘A Classification Of Residential Neighbourhoods’.
- 21.
For a comprehensive guide to the uses and limitations of geodemographic classifications in a public policy context, see Lupton et al. 2011).
- 22.
A fuller account of the geodemographic evaluation tool and its application is provided in Batey and Brown (2007).
- 23.
P2 People and Places was a proprietary geodemographic classification based on the 2001 Census. It was developed jointly by Beacon Dodsworth Ltd. and researchers at the University of Liverpool. The latest (2011) version of P2 People and Places is described on the Beacon Dodsworth website: https://beacon-dodsworth.co.uk
- 24.
In the 2001 UK Census, Output Areas replaced enumeration districts as the smallest spatial units used to publish census data. They were designed to align with postcode geography and were created by aggregating unit postcodes. This made it possible to link post-coded data with small area census data much more accurately than had been possible previously, with obvious benefits for spatial targeting. By the time of the 2011 Census there were approximately 190,000 Output Areas in the UK, containing an average of 125 households.
- 25.
The design of the 2011 OAC benefited from feedback gathered from users of the earlier OAC. See Gale et al. (2016).
- 26.
The London Datastore (https://data.london.gov.uk) is a free and open data sharing portal where anyone can access data relating to London. The LOAC may be accessed at https://data.london.gov.uk
- 27.
See Fig. 1.1
- 28.
See also Hincks et al. (2018) for a similar geodemographic classification of commuting flows.
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Batey, P. (2022). Geodemographics and Urban Planning Analysis: An Historical Review. In: Kawano, M., Kourtit, K., Nijkamp, P., Higano, Y. (eds) Theory and History in Regional Perspective. New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives, vol 56. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6695-7_1
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