A plan to save Detroit?

A recent article by Bruce Katz captured my attention today. It's entitled 'The Detroit Project: A Plan for Solving America's Greatest Urban Disaster' - strong words indeed. It's of interest to me for a few reasons: 1. urban policy is one of my main research areas; 2. it mentions Sheffield - where I live; 3. it uses European examples in a positive light; 4. it makes international comparisons; 5. my Grandparents used to live and work in Detroit (they were immigrants in the early 1930s); 6. I've been there and seen the city first-hand (see photos below).

The policy challenges faced in Detroit are huge. The population has halved since 1950, unemployment is at 28% and there are 1,220 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Despite all this, I found it a very enjoyable city to visit. Maybe that's because I've also lived in cities such as Glasgow and Liverpool and I like interesting places. Anyone who has driven along the lower dock road in Liverpool and West Fort Street in Detroit will understand. However, the claim that 'Europe is filled with cities that have risen from similarly miserable conditions' is, in my view, a bit over the top. Having said that, anyone who grew up in Liverpool in the 1980s would understand the comparison.

I do agree with the assertion that 'recovery requires at least a generation' - as Katz says.

Public Spending in the UK

The Guardian have been doing some interesting things with data over the past couple of years, including setting up their data store. One of the most interesting visualisations they have produced relates to public spending in the UK. The most recent version of this graphic (produced in conjunction with the Institute for Fiscal Studies), for 2008-09 reveals some interesting things...

• Total spending was £620.685 billion, up 7% on the previous year
  
• Department for Work and Pensions (state pensions, housing benefit, etc.) spending was £135.7 billion
• £94.552 billion was spent on the NHS
• Interest payments on debt were £24.1 billion
• 'Financial stability' measures (i.e. bailing out the banks) was £85.5 billion
• More money was spent bailing out LTSB and RBS (£36.9 billion) than on the Department for Communities and Local Government (£36.8 billion)
• DCLG spending for local and regional government was £25.4 billion

There's a fully fledged article on all this, and links to the downloadable pdf on the Guardian pages relating to this analysis. There's also a related flickr page for visualisations.

Old Industrial Landscapes

A short post today, on the topic of old industrial landscapes. Specifically, pictures of Kelham Island in Sheffield. I showed some German professors around this area during the summer as part of a short walking tour. I find the area fascinating so here are some photos I took.

Click the slideshow below to see the full size version.

British National Grid and Google Maps

This post follows on from a recent one about the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2009 and in particular the interactive mapping function they provide.

The most deprived area in Scotland, according to the new Index, just happens to be centred on Celtic Park, Glasgow. This is, in technical terms, Data Zone S01003279. But, there's a slight problem - the Data Zones are somewhat displaced. It's not too big an issue in relation to the SIMD data because Data Zones match Ordnance Survey data and the Scottish Government have all this behind the scenes so they do of course know on a street-by-street basis where things are.

However, for the online map interface, it does mean that the Data Zone is not in the right place. It also means that people using the interactive mapping facility could end up thinking they live in one area, when they actually live in another since the level of displacement often moves Data Zones into the wrong street.

So, it got me thinking. What would you have to do to get the Data Zones in the right place on Google Maps (this also applies to Google Earth)? It's quite simple really (if you're a nerd and you have the right software)... N.B. the SIMD data is not based on Google Maps, but rather the Microsoft Virtual Earth mapping facility.

1. Convert the Data Zone Shapefile from British National Grid to WGS84 in ArcGIS. Best done via ArcToolbox/Data Management Tools/Projections and Transformations/Feature/Project and then selecting the right files for transformation to the correct projection. More useful information can be found here.
   
2. Use Kevin Martin's excellent Export to KML tool to convert the Shapefile to KML. You can set transparency here and it will export as a transparent KML layer, as in the maps below.
   
3. If you've got a Google account you can then upload the KML file directly into the My Maps facility and the Data Zone appears there. From there you can add a description and edit in other ways.
   

Here's what it looks like if you don't get the projection right the first time (click the link below the map to see the full thing) - note how the edges of the Data Zone don't match the streets.


View Data Zone S01003279 - Displaced in a larger map

And here's how it looks if you convert to the correct projection before you export to KML (again, click the link below the map to see it full size):

View S01003279 in a larger map

So, a simple bit of GIS work before putting all this online solves the problem.

Google Motion Charts

This post is about Google's motion charts and how useful they are for displaying data in a dynamic format. In this example, I've taken data for four cities in the north of England, and compared change over time from 2000 to 2008. I've used the following indicators:

• Total population - from ONS mid-year population estimates
• Working age population - from ONS mid-year population estimates
• VAT Stock at end of year - from NOMIS, a measure of business vitality (only got up to 2007 for this)
• Claimant Count - from NOMIS, those claiming unemployment benefit
• House prices - median house price for each area, from CLG Live Tables

You can compare any data against any data by clicking below and beside each axis. You can size the bubbles according to any variable and choose to turn any area's data on or off. They're really easy to use. Try experimenting with the example below, or the larger version I've linked to (note that you can click the tabs to the top right of the chart for a different data view). Pressing the 'play' button in the bottom left of the chart will start the animation.

All you need to make this is a some data and a free Google account. And a bit of time and patience. Once you get how it works it's really easy, and very effective. This is just an example using some English data.

For a REALLY impressive demonstration, see gapminder.

For a larger version of the chart shown below, I've put together a separate page.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2009

Being of Scottish origin and interested as I am in understanding and measuring deprivation, the recently published Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2009 is today's topic. It updates previous indices (SIMD2004, SIMD2006) and it measures small area deprivation in a way similar to other deprivation indices used across the UK. More information on the indicators used can be found here, and useful background and methodology information is also available. There's now even an interactive mapping function, based on Microsoft Silverlight and Virtual Earth mapping technology.

There has been quite a bit of press coverage of this, for example - The Times, The Herald, the BBC, and of course the Sun. There was also a press release from the SNP. Here's a screenshot showing the location of the most deprived area in Scotland according to the SIMD2009 (click the image to see it full size).



By the way, the link between deprivation and football stadia is not unique to Glasgow or Scotland. North Liverpool and Anfield on the English IMD2004 and IMD2007 is another good example, as is the Millennium Stadium and the Welsh IMD2005. I will have to do another post on this topic...

CloudMade

This post is all about CloudMade. What is it? This is how they describe themselves:

"CloudMade helps you make the most of map data. We source our maps from OpenStreetMap, the community mapping project which is making a free map of the world. Our aim is to continue the democratization of geo data and to expand access to open geo data through a range of simple yet powerful tools and APIs."

OpenStreetMap's UK homepage can be found here. So, it's basically all about mapping the world but not charging the earth for it. Or anything at all! OpenStreetMap was started in 2004 by Steve Coast, one of the co-founders of CloudMade. Play around with the map below...


View Larger Map

Why does this all matter? Because it's the start of a movement which could make available geo-data which was previously very costly and heavily restricted by licensing issues. It could be particularly good for GIS users in the UK. CloudMade have downloads available for a number of different data types, including Shapefiles, for the entire world. The coverage is sometimes patchy (though not for most areas), but it's growing by the day.

Here's the UK downloads page.

The Shapefiles are not complete, and the administrative data is in polyline rather than polygon format, but there is a lot of useful stuff here. In conclusion, the UK data is not yet comparable to high cost alternatives, but this is a good start!