At a time of constrained finances across all sectors of service delivery, getting resource allocation right is of paramount importance. Of equal concern are the costs associated with acquiring the evidence needed to make those informed decisions. Therefore, the ability to understand the characteristics of an area and its population is crucial to decision making. This is where the newly launched London Output Area Classification (LOAC) comes into its own.

As an open source geospatial classification, the LOAC uses a combination of over 60 Census variables to classify every single small area in London within a hierarchical structure.

The potential uses of this dataset are myriad, from finding similar areas across London in order to compare performance of key services and share best practice, to private sector profiling of areas for potential investment and third sector targeting of resources to maximum effect – the possibilities are endless.

In order to help users get the most from LOAC, the GLA have built an interactive portal to allow quick and easy interrogation. Users can profile their area, compare areas, find where similar areas are across London and download the raw data too.

The LOAC 2011 is also available to view on the beautiful DataShine platform created by UCL CASA.

Come and see the data in action for yourselves and as always, we’re always keen to know how you use the data and any ideas for how it could be improved.