Open Geodemographics and Crime: A Case Study Of Toronto

Geodemographic segmentation systems are ubiquitous in commercial applications for marketing but academic research on geodemographics shows limited focus on crime. A criticism of geodemographic segmentation systems is their closed nature, with many systems only accessible through commercial means, making them inaccessible for general public access. Using a more open approach that provides access to geodemographic systems, methodology, and applications would increase the availability and potential use of geodemographic solutions. The research presented in this paper puts forward a geodemographic segmentation system for Toronto that uses crime data in the creation of its clusters and provides the system and the methodology open to the public. This serves the dual purpose of providing a system for others to use for their own analysis on crime within Toronto and providing the methodology for others to create their own system. This research found that crime data is well suited to a geodemographic segmentation approach. Further research can apply these open data techniques to other cities or even countries.