On the Structure of Urban Social Areas: Explorations Using Q-Analysis

Abstract

Conventional approaches to the understanding of urban socio-spatial structure factor-analyse data matrices and frequently classify areal units using numerical taxonomic methods. However, standard taxonomic techniques impose a partition on what may be a richly connected structure and an alternative approach is explored. This makes use of 'Q-analysis', a mathematical language devised by R. H. Atkin for the representation and interpretation of structure. As an illustration, a recently published set of data that shows the distribution of 9 occupational groups over a set of 25 areal units in the borough of Thamesdown, Wiltshire (Johnston, 1979) is re-examined. The analysis suggests that the areal units form a well-connected whole and that Thamesdown's socio-spatial structure cannot adequately be depicted as a simple partition.