A Simple GIS-based Method for Transferring Census Data from CCDs to MBs
More spatially distributed description of local communities’ characteristics is desirable for many applications using census data, such as the characterization of spatial accessibility to healthcare services by local communities in urban fringe zones. Pre-2006 census data available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) enables us to do this at the Census Collection District (CCD) level, and the 2006 census data brings an opportunity for us to do so at the Mesh Block (MB) level. However, many attributes currently available at the CCD level are not yet presented at the MB level, and it is not likely for ABS to make these CCD-level attributes available at the MB-level in the foreseeable future. In order to produce a useful description of local communities’ characteristics at the MB-level, it is necessary to transfer these CCD-level attributes to the respective MBs. Many areal interpolation methods have been developed to transfer data between areal units of incompatible boundaries. Using the data available at both the CCD and the MB levels, a simple GIS-based method for transferring CCD-level data to the respective MBs is developed. Experiment results indicate that the method developed is efficient and robust. The method presented in this paper can be useful for many applications using census data, including the spatial characterization and optimization of public health and socio-economic conditions.