Alasdair Rae

From spatial interaction data to spatial interaction information? Geovisualisation and spatial structures of migration from the 2001 UK census

Abstract In modern GIS applications, flow mapping and geodynamics are not particularly well represented. This is somewhat surprising given the potential of such approaches to shed light on the spatial characteristics associated with the movement of people and goods. Despite the attention of a select number of researchers whose contributions have been significant, however, the subject matter remains underdeveloped and the full potential of spatial interaction data remains largely unrealised. Therefore, this paper represents an attempt to popularise the use of flow mapping within a contemporary GIS, with a view to aiding and enhancing decision support at a range of different spatial scales. It discusses advances in flow mapping, proposes an approach to mapping a large migration matrix from the United Kingdom’s 2001 census, and considers the ways in which this can add value to the understanding of geographical patterns of residential mobility. Subsequently, it considers possible dissemination methods via new developments in web-based geospatial technologies before offering some general principles and identifying future challenges. The findings indicate that it is now entirely feasible to map large spatial interaction datasets with common GIS software, that this has the benefit of producing instant, query-led information, and that the knowledge derived from this could be used to inform all kinds of local, regional and national policy formulation and evaluation.

People on the move: exploring the functional roles of deprived neighbourhoods

Given the neighbourhood focus of much regeneration policy, we need to know more about the functional roles that neighbourhoods play in the way that households move within the housing market and hence about the different functional types of neighbourhood amongst deprived areas. Such knowledge would help both to guide the priorities of policy and to interpret the probability of policy interventions being successful. This exploratory study draws on an evaluation of the British governments National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, part of which entails an interpretation of household mobility data from the 2001 Census. It suggests four categories of neighbourhood—transit, escalator, isolate, and improver areas—based on the relationship between where households move to and move from, focused on the 20% most deprived lower super output areas in England. Evidence on the ground suggests the plausibility of the different functional roles played by the four neighbourhood types. Some continuing conundrums—the robustness of the categorisation, the need to take account of the spatial context of deprived areas, and the difference between movers and stayers—are discussed as a prelude to further continuing research.

Isolated Entities or Integrated Neighbourhoods? An Alternative View of the Measurement of Deprivation

The use of area-based deprivation indices is now a firmly established means of assessing which areas ought to be the focus of government policy, with separate indices of deprivation established for each constituent part of the UK. In England, the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 has been widely used to support decision-making for key urban policies and in more local assessments of deprivation. Implicit in the development and use of these indicators is the notion that area matters and that it can be an important influence on a whole range of different activities. However, there is also a sense in which contemporary measures of deprivation are spatially short-sighted since they are not able to account formally for the spatial context of individual locations. This paper therefore offers an alternative approach to the measurement of local conditions by combining spatial statistical approaches with a much-used deprivation index.

An Economic Geography of the United States: From Commutes to Megaregions

The emergence in the United States of large-scale “megaregions” centered on major metropolitan areas is a phenomenon often taken for granted in both scholarly studies and popular accounts of contemporary economic geography. This paper uses a data set of more than 4,000,000 commuter flows as the basis for an empirical approach to the identification of such megaregions. We compare a method which uses a visual heuristic for understanding areal aggregation to a method which uses a computational partitioning algorithm, and we reflect upon the strengths and limitations of both. We discuss how choices about input parameters and scale of analysis can lead to different results, and stress the importance of comparing computational results with “common sense” interpretations of geographic coherence. The results provide a new perspective on the functional economic geography of the United States from a megaregion perspective, and shed light on the old geographic problem of the division of space into areal units.

Online Housing Search and the Geography of Submarkets

The importance of search behaviour has long been recognised in the study of housing markets, but research in this area has frequently been hampered by lack of data. In many nations, the vast majority of initial housing search queries are now conducted online and the data this generates could, in theory, provide us with better insights into how housing market search operates spatially, in addition to generating new knowledge on the geography of local housing submarkets. This paper seeks to explore these propositions by discussing existing conceptions of search before developing a framework for understanding housing search in the digital age. A large, user-generated housing market search data-set is then introduced and analysed with respect to area definition, submarket geography and search pressure locations. The results indicate that this kind of ‘big data’ approach to housing research could generate important new insights for housing market analysts.

Putting big data in its place: a Regional Studies and Regional Science perspective

This second Editorial for Regional Studies, Regional Science is timed to coincide with the publication of Rob Kitchin et al.’s contribution and associated commentaries (Batty, 2014; Holden & Pires, 2014; Kitchin, Lauriault, & McArdle, 2014; Wilson, 2014). We focus on the topic of big data and aim to offer some perspective in relation to recent critiques and its utility within regional studies and regional science, whereas Kitchin et al. consider its epistemological connotations in the context of urban indicators, city benchmarking and real-time dashboards. Although this commentary focuses on big data within a social science context, much of what we write could be applied more widely. The next section considers definitions of big data before we turn our attention to infrastructure and investment, and conclude with some reflections on what the future might hold for big data in regional studies and regional science.

Monitoring spatial planning policies: towards an analytical, adaptive, and spatial approach to a 'wicked problem'

This paper considers the complex issue of how to monitor spatial planning policies. Unlike some forms of spatial policy intervention (eg, area-based urban policy), spatial planning is not time or space bound and is therefore more difficult to assess. Furthermore, it is imbued with a variety of normative and political complexities which frustrate attempts to understand whether or not it is ‘working’. Therefore, we suggest an alternative approach to monitoring what is in many ways a ‘wicked problem’. The paper begins with an overview of past and present approaches to policy monitoring before moving on to consider the nature of spatial planning and the use of indicators as monitoring tools. Strategic indicator bundles are then explained with reference to practitioner input. The twin issues of spatial context and spatial flows are discussed before we reflect upon the implications of such an approach for monitoring spatial planning policy in practice.

Learning from the Past? A Review of Approaches to Spatial Targeting in Urban Policy

When parts of cities are seen to be “failing” in some way, a common response by governments is to intervene spatially, with policies targeted at particular areas for fixed time periods. These area-based interventions would seem to offer advantages in relation to efficiency and effectiveness, but they have often fallen short of meeting their objectives. After more than forty years of urban policy in practice, then, the question of whether we have learned from experience is a pertinent one. This review paper contemplates the continued focus on “areas” in urban policy, forwards a spatio-conceptual framework for understanding “urban problems”, and then identifies some additional theoretical and conceptual issues. The questions of whether we have learned from past experience and what a “good” urban policy might look like are posed in the penultimate section. The answers are not necessarily encouraging.

Flow-Data Analysis with Geographical Information Systems: A Visual Approach

This paper takes a visual approach to flow-data analysis within geographical information systems, and uses spatial interaction data from the United Kingdom for illustrative purposes. As a subfield within GIS, flow mapping is something of a disciplinary laggard, despite significant advances elsewhere in the field. Therefore, the paper has three main aims. First, the intention is to show how complex spatial interaction data—frequently underutilised—can be converted into meaningful information using a GIS-based, visual approach. Second, it is hoped that the contribution will help popularise the subject and stimulate new research within spatial interaction studies and planning more broadly. The third aspect is to demonstrate that we can gain a better understanding, and knowledge of, complex spatial networks through a visual analytics approach to information generation. The paper begins by exploring some key developments in the presentation of flow data. The main body of the paper is comprised of five key geovisualisations which focus on identifying the various patterns of spatial interaction in the United Kingdom. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and direction for future development are highlighted.

Spatial patterns of labour market deprivation in Scotland: Concentration, isolation and persistence

The measurement of deprivation at the small area level has been an important element of the evidence base for policy targeting and formulation in the United Kingdom over the past two decades. In Scotland, the Scottish Indices of Deprivation 2009 represent the most recent manifestation of this trend, and they tell a familiar story, particularly in relation to local labour market deprivation. This labour market dimension is an intriguing sub-plot, since regeneration and economic development policies very often have employment-related goals and target areas which are under-represented in terms of local labour market participation. However, despite numerous spatially targeted policy interventions, the policy challenge looms large and local labour market deprivation in Scotland is characterised by patterns of spatial concentration and isolation. This article therefore sheds more light on these phenomena at a time when proposed welfare reforms threaten to further exacerbate patterns of spatially concentrated deprivation in Scotland.