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Review
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How developing countries can derive value from the
principles and practice of geodemographics, and provide
fresh solutions to millennium development challenges
Adegbola OJO1* and Patrick Oseloka EZEPUE2
1Department
of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN,
United Kingdom.
2Department
of Computing, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB,
United Kingdom.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
a.ojo@adegbolaojo.co.uk.
Tel: +44 (0)114 2570 739, +44 (0)786 224 4758.
Accepted 20 July, 2011 |
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Abstract |
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Geodemographic segmentation
systems are area classifications that use multi-criteria and
geo-statistical analytics to group places and people into
clusters of similarity. The benefits of these geocomputation
techniques have been largely embraced by countries in the
developed world where the origins of geodemographics lie. In
spite of identified value of segmentation techniques for driving
efficacy in policy making in developed societies, numerous
developing countries still lack these systems. At the very basic
level, some of the reasons for this paucity may appear obvious;
however some more pertinent issues like the misunderstanding of
the significance of data infrastructure has often been
overlooked. In this paper, we provide some background on the
antecedents of geodemographics and focus on the challenges and
benefits of spatial segmentation as an option for driving
evidence-based policy making within developing countries.
Key words:
Developing world, geodemographics, geographic information
systems, millennium development goals, public policy.
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