ODO,Zo__L. KAC - 1177 - 44 Mining the Census Data for the Borough of Merton An Interactive Qualifying Project Report submitted to the Faculty of the WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science by A rlY\ Ian Ferguson Rebecca Gougian 040 641, David Govonlu Russell Souza Date: February 28, 2004 his Professor Paul Davis 7&. Professor Kevin C ements Abstract Having obtained 2001 census data, the London Borough of Merton desired a small area analysis of deprivation and improved data presentation. To achieve this, an Intranet website was created to display key statistics and analyses, including updated demographic information and a profile of poverty. In addition, the construction of data maps made possible the examination of the spatial dimensions of poverty. These accomplishments provided Merton's local authority with a detailed analysis of deprivation and a central location for census statistics. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT II TABLE OF CONTENTS III TABLE OF FIGURES V TABLE OF TABLES V EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND INFORMATION 3 2.1 SPONSORING AGENCY 3 2.2 CENSUS 4 2.2.1 History 4 2.2.2 Population and Residents 5 2.2.3 Housing 7 2.2.4 Economics and Education 7 2.2.5 Transportation 8 2.2.6 Health 8 2.3 USES OF CENSUS DATA 9 2.3.1 Community Planning 9 2.3.2 Allocation of Services 9 2.4 DEFINING POVERTY 11 2.4.1 General Measures 11 2.4.2 Indicators in London 12 2.4.3 Multiple Indices of Deprivation 13 2.4.4 Distribution of Poverty 14 2.5 POVERTY MAPPING IN ECUADOR 14 2.6 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS 16 2.6.1 Objectives 17 2.6.2 Operations 19 2.6.3 Scaling Maps 20 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22 3.1 PRESENTATION OF CENSUS DATA 22 3.1.1 Data Access System 22 3.1.2 What makes an effective GIS map layer? 24 3.1.3 Merton's Population Update 28 3.2 ANALYSIS OF POVERTY 29 3.2.1 Indicators of Poverty 29 3.2.2 Comparison Levels 30 3.2.3 Direct Observation 31 CHAPTER 4: CENSUS DATA PRESENTATION 33 4.1 DATA ACCESS SYSTEM 33 4.1.1 Other Methods of Displaying Census Data 33 4.1.2 Components 34 4.1.3 Technologies 35 4.1.4 Categorisation of Census Data 36 4.2 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS MAPS 37 4.2.1 Important Variables to Map 37 4.2.2 Map Colours 39 4.2.3 Map Scaling 39 4.2.4 Clickable GIS Maps 40 4.3 MERTON'S POPULATION UPDATE 41 4.4 CENSUS DATA 42 4.4.1 Design 42 4.4.2 Postcode Lookup 46 4.5 TUTORIAL 48 CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF POVERTY IN LONDON 49 5.1 TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS 49 5.1.1 Indicators of Poverty 49 5.1.2 Analysing Indictors of Poverty 50 5.2 SELECTING INDICATORS OF POVERTY 51 5.2.1 Census Data vs. Other Types of Data 52 5.2.2 Availability and Validity of Indicators 53 5.2.3 Indicators for the Poverty Profile 53 5.3 COMBING DEPRIVATION INDICATORS 54 5.3.1 The London Index of Deprivation 54 5.3.2 An alternative index of deprivation 55 5.3.3 Results obtained using the census index 59 5.4 GEOGRAPHICAL COMPARISONS 62 5.4.1 London Level 62 5.4.2 Ward Level 65 5.4.3 Output Area Level 68 5.5 DIRECT OBSERVATION 72 5.5.1 Mitcham Centre 73 5.5.2 Haydons Road 74 5.5.3 Abbey 75 5.5.4 Affluent Neighbourhoods 76 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS 78 6.1 SINGLE RESOURCE FOR CENSUS INFORMATION 78 6.2 MAPPING STYLES AND DATA PRESENTATION 78 6.3 POVERTY ANALYSIS 79 REFERENCES 82 APPENDIX A — DEGREE, EXTENT, AND INTENSITY 85 APPENDIX B - COMBINED RATINGS FOR OUTPUT AREAS IN MERTON 97 APPENDIX C: WHAT IS AN INTERACTIVE QUALIFYING PROJECT? 110 DIGITAL APPENDIX D: POPULATION PROFILE 112 DIGITAL APPENDIX E: POVERTY PROFILE 112 DIGITAL APPENDIX F: GIS MAPS 112 DIGITAL APPENDIX G: MAPINFO WORKSPACES 113 DIGITAL APPENDIX H: IQP REPORT 113 DIGITAL APPENDIX I: WEBSITE FILES 113 iv Table of Figures Figure 1: Sample map layer of the Merton's wards and output areas. 18 Figure 2: Internet Survey 23 Figure 3: Indicator Evaluation Survey 25 Figure 4: Map Evaluation Survey 27 Figure 5: Planned Observation points 32 Figure 6: The main webpage for Merton's Intranet Data Access System 35 Figure 7: Sample page from the population census profile 41 Figure 8: Image from data access system describing ward selection process 43 Figure 9: Image displaying one section of table selection process 44 Figure 10: Image from data access system 45 Figure 11: Image form data access system 46 Figure 12: Image from data access system 47 Figure 13: Image from www.multimap.com from Postcode sw191ns 47 Figure 14: Ward level map of London using the census-based index 56 Figure 15: Ward level map of London using the London Index of Deprivation 56 Figure 16: Ward level map of London using the Indices of Deprivation 57 Figure 17: Unemployment Rate by ward for Greater London 63 Figure 18: Unemployment Rate by OA for Southwest London 63 Figure 19: Deprivation Index by ward for Greater London 64 Figure 20: Deprivation Index by output area for Southwest London 65 Figure 21: Unemployment Rate by Ward 66 Figure 22: Percentage of Households Experiencing Overcrowding by Ward 66 Figure 23: Percentage of Households without Sole Use of Toilet by Ward 67 Figure 24: Merton Deprivation Index by Ward 68 Figure 25: Merton Deprivation Index by OA 69 Figure 26: Percentage of Households without Sole Use of Toilet by OA 69 Figure 27: Unemployment Rate by OA 71 Figure 28: Percentage of Households Experiencing Overcrowding by Ward 71 Figure 29: Mitcham centre 73 Figure 30: Housing complex on Western Road 74 Figure 31: Haydons Road 75 Figure 32: Boarded up home on Gap Street 75 Figure 33: Industrial buildings on Jubilee Street in Abbey Ward 76 Figure 34: Residential locations in Abbey off of Liberty Street. 76 Figure 35: Affluent homes in the different boroughs of Merton. 77 Table of Tables Table 1: Census Variable Rankings 38 Table 2: Unemployment Rate Accuracy Comparisons 40 Table 3: Ward statistics summary based on income support data 60 Table 4: Degree, Extent, and Intensity of Deprivation based on pay check data 61 Table 5: Hotspots of Deprivation based on the pay check index 62 Executive Summary Having recently received 2001 census results, Merton was faced with the challenge of incorporating this information into the decision-making processes of the various departments that make up the local authority. To achieve this, the WPI students created a website to display updated demographic information, a small area analysis of poverty, data maps of key statistics, and various tools to access and compare census data. The local authority can use these products to provide more effective policies and services for residents of Merton. Population Update Throughout the local authority, key demographic data from the census is used in a variety of ways. To facilitate access to these statistics, the data was divided into five categories: population and residents, economics and education, housing, travel, and health. Updated tables and histograms were created using the recently compiled census data. Poverty Analysis Since poverty can arise from multiple causes, many analyses of deprivation use a single numerical index that combines different measures of these various causes. Previous analyses of deprivation have only made comparisons at the ward level. The Indices of Deprivation 2002 and the London Index of Deprivation both rely on data that is usually not available at sub-ward levels. To provide a more detailed analysis, this project has created an index using data that is collected at the output area level. An output area is a census grouping consisting of approximately 100 households. An output area analysis enables one to identify pockets of poverty that would not be evident at the ward level. vi Using this index, each output area in London was ranked according to its combined level of deprivation in five key areas: income, employment, housing, health, and education. The degree, extent, and intensity of poverty were calculated using these rankings. These three additional measures assess the geographical distribution of poverty. In addition, the ten most deprived output areas in Merton were identified, using both the combined index and individual indicators. As a result of this new approach, small pockets of deprivation hidden at the ward level by surrounding larger areas of relative wealth were identified. Mapping Census Variables To analyse the spatial dimensions of census data, Mapinfo, a Geographical Information System (GIS) was used to create data maps at the ward and output area levels. These maps permit visual comparisons and offer an intuitive, geographic approach to examining census variables. The maps were colours in schemes consistent with the five categories of census data. The Natural Break scaling algorithm was used to maximize the accuracy and to permit direct comparisons between maps at different levels of geographic resolution. Data Access System In addition to containing the Population Update, Poverty Profile, and GIS maps, the data access provides a method of comparing all census data at the ward and output area level. Because there are over twenty-three distinct census variables and over six hundred output areas, users could conceive of nearly endless variety of histograms. Hence, the Census Data section allows the user to choose any number of wards and corresponding datasets before it dynamically generates the required data display.