The idea of writing a blog about the Scottish statistical geography known as the 'Data Zone' seems like a very boring one. Somewhat niche, you might say. But it's probably a bit more interesting than you might think - particularly if you're into maps, geography and data. If you do any work on population or data in Scotland, you will probably have heard of the 'Data Zone'. They are,
according to the Scottish Government, 'the key small-area statistical geography in Scotland'. If you're reading this then there is a chance you already know that there are 6,505 of them. At the time of the 2011 Census, the total population of Scotland was 5,295,403 so this gives an average of 814 people per Data Zone. The highest population of any Data Zone in 2011 was 8,698 - up from 4,510 in the 2006 mid-year estimate - in an area of Dunfermline to the west of the M90. See the table below for more information on Data Zone populations. If you want to know more about how they were created, read about it
here.
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| Scotland's most populous Data Zone in 2011 |
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| DZs by population |
Five Data Zones in Scotland had a population of zero at the time of the 2011 Census. Four of these are in Glasgow and one is in Edinburgh. Only one had a population of zero from the 2006 mid-year estimates; a small area in Castlemilk, as you can see below. Demolition has obviously played a part in all of this.
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| DZ in Castlemilk, Glasgow |
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| DZ in Balornock, Glasgow (Red Road flats area) |
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| DZ in Sighthill, Glasgow |
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| DZ near Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow |
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| DZ in Muirhouse, Edinburgh |
This variation in population is also evident in relation to the geographical size of Data Zones. The biggest Data Zone in Scotland is larger in area than Hong Kong (see below) - which has a population of more than 7 million in an area compared to the Highland Data Zone of S01003915, which in 2011 had 608 people. Hardly surprising that parts of the Highlands are sparsely populated, but this Data Zone also dwarfs nearly all other DZs in Scotland - in fact, the largest one has room for the smallest 5,164 Data Zones, but probably not the infrastructure, housing or services... I've also superimposed the largest two Data Zones on to Glasgow and Edinburgh, just to give you an idea of the scale.
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| Scotland's largest Data Zones by area |
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| Scotland's largest DZ over Glasgow/Edinburgh |
I think I've used up all my goodwill, so I'll stop here. Next time you're at a party and there's a lull in the conversation, I recommend bringing this subject up.
