Atlas of Social and Economic Conditions in Leicester

Introduction
There are three guiding principles for this Atlas. First, that to be understood properly, the Atlas should be read as a whole, that is, the patterns shown across the many maps are more important to regeneration than the details of any individual map. Second, the importance of local authority data when it is related to other data is far higher than its value to the service from which it originates. Finally, by taking all the maps together, it is possible to get close to a definition of social exclusion in Leicester.

This project has built on academic work on local authority data and social exclusion. In 1987, the then Department of the Environment noted how Geographical Information Systems (GIS) could benefit local government (DoE 1987). These uses include:

• Monitoring changes in economic, social environmental and demographic conditions
  
• Forecasting changes in service requirements
  
• Service planning based on patterns of need as a basis for the delivery of services

To this latter point the DoE report added “it will also highlight areas of social deprivation”. This Atlas of social and economic conditions in Leicester will identify those areas of what is now called social exclusion.

The choice of data sets
The decennial census remains the key tool for social and economic planning, but in 1998 as this Atlas is published, data from the last census is seven years old. In meeting the authority’s data requirements at this time the use of GIS for service data represents the best data available. The transition to unitary status has helped to include data from the Education and Social Services’ professions, and the Atlas also benefits from the City Council’s Partnerships.

There are probably two main ways to select data: to define what is ideal and then seek to obtain it; or to use what is available within the limitations and constraints of imperfect data. This project rather pragmatically opted for the latter course of action. However, it is hoped that data set holders will recognise the value of the service data they hold, that the Atlas will spur the implementation of GIS across the Authority, and that any future issues of the Atlas will be able to choose from a wider set of data.

Fenton (1994) recognised the extent of data held within a local authority. This data needs a method of presentation and a theory of application. For presentation, this Atlas has chosen to use a system available within commercial software packages. In summary, the software deliberately blurs data to the extent of hiding personal identity, but still showing a quite small area, like hills and valleys in a landscape. Depending on the scale and the range of the data, the software can show the hills of high achievement or the valleys of poverty. The degree of precision shown in these maps is therefore higher than anything previously available (other than the Census), but which still protects individual identity.

This Atlas also contains two maps for which we are not yet able to process data to the accuracy we would like; however in both cases it was felt that the map that was already available did complement our new data.

What do the maps show? There are two answers to this question. Each data originator was invited to submit a commentary to its own data which is included with the maps. The commentary draws attention to the data as seen from the service manager’s perspective. Each map is therefore useful within the service it describes. The composite answer is more complex. The general idea of “social exclusion” can be refined to produce at least two broad categories - those communities, defined spatially, already excluded, and those threatened by it (Gros-Jean et al, 1995).

In the application of policy, the data sets presented in these maps show Leicester based on three gradations:

• the whole City, where all policies of the City Council apply
• 
  areas of the City already faced with social exclusion
• areas of the City threatened by social exclusion

These maps should not be used to add stigma to the areas of Leicester already facing problems well known to those who live there. As commentators have pointed out (e.g. Chainey 1997), the mapping of such data is intended to be proactive rather than insensitive. But it is impossible to tackle deprivation and disadvantage if it remains hidden from those in Government and elsewhere who control the purse-strings. The City Council’s corporate regeneration strategy serves the whole City, and there is a particular response to the areas facing social exclusion whatever the degree.

The Atlas and the Corporate Regeneration Strategy

The strategy for the economic and social regeneration of Leicester must therefore be developed to cover the three demands. The economic and social interests of the City as a whole are addressed, as well as the particular needs of the communities loosely categorised as facing or being threatened by social exclusion.

Strategies for these three demands differ, not least in the resources available. Sustainable development, local planning and the structure plan process have a direct impact on land use in the City. Transport infrastructure impacts on economic development. Property investment, land portfolios and the physical regeneration of vacant brownfield sites in the City also relate to the regeneration process. The defining element of the “Urban agenda” is the density of the built environment and its consequences. These three dynamics - social, physical and environmental - need to be integrated for best effect.

Central and local government’s response is now to promote the better integration of public funds across the City, while Central Government earmarks small funds for the regeneration of particular areas. This Atlas will allow the City Council to achieve a better match for the public spend in Leicester. It will be possible to target bids for new funds - national or European - on quite small areas depending on the grant conditions. Further, for the first time it will be possible to develop programmes for similar areas of the City in parallel and at the same time, rather than waiting for a “turn” in a series.

Conclusion
The first document produced by the Corporate Regeneration Strategy Unit, which accompanied a successful bid for funding from the Single Regeneration Budget in Round 4, argued that it was possible to categorise areas by the extent of social exclusion they were experiencing, and to match resources accordingly. This Atlas shows how the approach can be developed across the City.

It is hoped to revise this Atlas intermittently if the data in it can contribute to the strategic regeneration of Leicester.

Andy Thomas
Leicester City Council


References:
Handling Geographic Information : Report of a Committee of Enquiry chaired by Lord Chorley (Department of the Environment, 1987)
Fenton, Mike: Baseline Studies and Updates: what can we collect and what does it mean? Local Economy Policy Unit, 1994
Gros-Jean, Christain , and Padieu, Claudine: Les exclus: Comment sortir de l’approche en “categories”? Revue francaise des Affaires sociales 1995 2/3 pp 5-28
Chainey, Spencer: Crime mapping in the London Borough of Brent BURISA journal 131 pp 4-7