Adding Value to Census Data: Public Sector Applications of the Super Profiles Geodemographic Typology

This paper reviews a series of public sector applications of the Super Profiles geodemographic typology that was produced using data derived from the 1991 Census. The applications, often in combination with the use of GIS software, have emerged in work undertaken by the staff of the Urban Research and Policy Evaluation Regional Research Laboratory (URPERRL). Examples of applications are drawn from the fields of health care, crime pattern analysis and the monitoring and evaluation of community safety programmes, plus an examination of higher education participation rate variation. The paper concludes with brief discussion of prospects for the development of further enhancements and applications of the Super Profiles typology as a means of adding value to both the original census data from which it was derived and datasets with which the classification can be linked. Peter J.B. Brown, Alex F.G. Hirschfield and Peter W.J. Batey Urban Research and Policy Evaluation Regional Research Laboratory (URPERRL). Department of Civic Design, University of Liverpool, The Gordon Stephenson Building, 74 Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZQ, UK e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]