Census Mapping in the Caribbean: A Geospatial Approach

Census Mapping in the Caribbean - A Geospatial Approach

Charles R. Brigham

Published at Smashwords

Copyright Charles R. Brigham 2013

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This book is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. The author and publisher are not offering it as legal, accounting, or other professional services advice. While best efforts have been used in preparing this book, the author and publisher make no representations or warranties of any kind and assume no liabilities of any kind with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness of use for a particular purpose. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be held liable or responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information or programs contained herein. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. Every company is different and the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should seek the services of a competent professional before beginning any improvement program. The story and its characters and entities have been modified to fit their purpose and can be deemed fictional. Any likeness to actual persons, either living or dead, is strictly coincidental.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Overview of Common Problems

Chapter 3 – Existing Census Mapping Activities

Chapter 4 - Commonly Observed Mapping Issues

Chapter 5 - Compilation of Census Mapping Data

Chapter 6 - Enumeration District Updating

Chapter 7 - Use of GIS and Technology for Census

Chapter 8 - Training of the GIS Units

Chapter 9 - My Responsibilities to the CARICOM States

Chapter 10- Anguilla

Chapter 11 - Antigua and Barbuda

Chapter 12 - Bahamas

Chapter 13 - Barbados

Chapter 14 - Belize

Chapter 15 - Bermuda

Chapter 16 - British Virgin Islands

Chapter 17 - Cayman Islands

Chapter 18 - Dominica

Chapter 19 - Grenada

Chapter 20 - Guyana

Chapter 21 - Jamaica

Chapter 22- St. Lucia

Chapter 23 - St. Kitts and Nevis

Chapter 24 - St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Chapter 25 - Suriname

Chapter 26 - Trinidad and Tobago

Chapter 27 – Concluding Report

Chapter 28 - APPENDIX A

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Introduction

This book captures my experience working with CARICOM (The Caribbean Community) countries in 2009 and 2010 in preparation for the 2010 World Census. I was tasked with assisting governments of CARICOM member states to develop tools to execute the Census in most accurate and cost efficient manner and to rapidly initiate a path for the use of the contemporary ICT tools within the area of geography. I conducted country-specific Geographic Information System (GIS) technical evaluation and assistance missions to 19 CARICOM member countries to build capacity of staff and speed up the relevant country office processes in time for the 2010 Census. Each GIS visit presented unique challenges and different needs depending on the stage of census mapping development. As part of these visits, the specific needs of the GIS personnel from various agencies in each country were targeted. As the result, the abilities of national agencies were significantly enhanced by developing and strengthening their GIS infrastructure. Also, national and regional census offices were assisted in terms of advancing geographic information as a critical discipline within the area of statistics and across other government agencies.

For some time Caribbean governments had been attempting to move towards a modernized way to conduct the census, using more efficient and effective methods. This desire was fueled by the need to increase efficiency and the need for more reliable data with several National Statistics Offices (NSOs) seeking better ways to collect and disseminate information. In wanting to improve and modernize the newest generation of maps in the region, the development and use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) was becoming key in moving forward. If implemented correctly, the use of GIS technologies would enable NSOs to create new products as well as automate various map creation processes.

With the exception of a few countries (for example St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago) most CARICOM countries had never established a permanent mapping unit in their statistical departments and instead relied on assistance from their resident Lands and Surveys or Urban Planning Departments. This was problematic since it hindered the development of spatially referenced datasets specific to census mapping and other geostatistical outputs and activities in the region.

Historically, most CARICOM Member States began their mapping programs approximately one year before the census. Since my assistance visits would not begin until November 2009 most countries were well into preparation work. In order to be of best use, I had to see what database development processes would work in conjunction with and complement the activities already set in motion by the time I arrived to produce the most useful census maps in the time left. It was critical to me that my evaluation did not disturb the immediate goals of the census or put a strain on countries’ existing resources.

As every country was at a different stage of preparation for the census with many activities going on simultaneously, I would have to work closely with statistics officers and practitioners at local, national, and international levels to integrate the standards, methods and practices that would help them conduct the 2010 Census effectively while achieving the most accurate resulting numbers. To accomplish this I would provide assistance with the production and preparation of census Enumeration District (ED) maps and support with the development of GIS in the region, which would enable effective dissemination of the data collected.

In order to better understand each member state’s unique needs, the mapping or GIS staff of each country were required to complete a CARICOM questionnaire on census activities in their respective countries. Only one completed questionnaire per country was required. The questions aimed to identify areas that would most benefit from my assistance and, in addition to supporting documents provided by CARICOM, would aid in the design of assistance activities and materials. With the exception of Dominica and St. Vincent & Grenadines, all the completed questionnaires were submitted to me by the end of November 2009.

Map of the CARICOM Member States 2009

Overview of Common Problems

Many countries were starting to use contemporary mapping methods but the likelihood that these methods would be employed in creating Enumeration District (ED) maps was slim since that would require rigorous standards, quality control and significant time in the order of years for effective use. However, smaller scale maps could have been produced for the census and there was significant potential during the ED map development and creation phase to build upon the existing census geographic database. The following are some common challenges to delivering well-prepared ED maps countries were facing:

- Unpredictable levels of consistency

- Pressures to contain costs

- Demographic shifts: dynamic populations and their associated geographic implications for work

- Lack of capacity or expertise

These challenges called for CARICOM Member States to develop comprehensive systems to strengthen the mapping capabilities of their statistics offices and serve the increasingly complex mapping tasks required for census execution. To aid the countries in this process, I developed an assistance program that would result in a higher standard of ED maps. The assistance program consisted of such tasks as conducting an assessment of available national base maps to be used for map production, standardizing the ED maps, ensuring that ED boundaries were properly delineated and conducting training workshops. In order to achieve lasting success for the upcoming census as well as future ones, the geographic and cartographic activities had to be flexible, integrative and cost efficient. The resulting maps needed to be user friendly and to be able to quickly assist the user without sacrificing the geographic and statistical information needed by managers. The ability to produce the maps required taking inventory of existing sources and evaluating the available digital data. Failure to complete this task effectively and appropriately could have catastrophic consequences that would lead to poor map products or coverage. Essentially, if a map insufficiently represented a geographic area too often, the completion time for the enumerator would get longer until the enumerator could no longer rely on the map.

2010 & 2001 Sample Draft Enumeration District Maps, CAD/GIS, Belize

Optimally, NSOs would implement the full use of their geospatial tools in the management component of the census. Due to time constraints scenarios could arise in the preparation of ED maps where census-mapping products have to be derived from both manual and digital forms. Many ED maps would be produced manually while the GIS could be used to produce the smaller scale, higher order census maps for the levels of Supervisor and Area Manager. However, this would be entirely dependent on the sophistication of the geospatial database and the heaviness of the staff’s workload. Although responses to most questions varied amongst the countries, there was a general consensus that further improving or laying the groundwork for a census GIS infrastructure was a top priority, whether it be for map generation, data management or dissemination. Several countries did not answer a chunk of the questions and did not express any concern about certain issues. What was expressed by most, was an interest in gaining knowledge in mapping and analysis of population dynamics using GIS, including managing data in a GIS and using this data to produce useful tools such as maps and analysis outputs in order to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of country demographic structures. Many also expressed a need to better understand the usefulness and functionality of free or commercial software and hardware such as GPS/Photo linking and Image registration.

Sample draft enumeration district maps in Antigua: Hand-drawn (2001) and GIS (2010)

Existing Census Mapping Activities

Census mapping teams and field assistants were concluding their larger fieldwork activities and were either continuing the development of their GIS database or engaged in editing ED and Supervisory District (SD) maps. Common activities included the delineation of boundaries by ED and SD, both manually and digitally, collecting GPS data of buildings and other geographic features, producing descriptions and maps for ED and SD areas. The work ranged from cross-checking areas of interest for capturing new geographic information to expanding the mapping team and collecting as much geographic information as possible through the use of GPS and field observations. For instance, the Bahamas GIS unit was collecting as much GPS data of household locations as possible when in the field. This information was then brought back to the office to be imported into the GIS, thereby improving the quality of the information in the GIS. Another example is from St. Lucia, which had a project underway that involved the temporary expansion of the Mapping Team to collect GPS point location for every building on the island and to complete pre census visitation records for every household. The duration of this particular data collection phase was from October 2008 to April 2009. Using the spatial data retrieved from that exercise, the existing ED maps were updated and new maps were ready to be generated in preparation for 2010 Census

Another activity countries were engaged in was the development of census GIS infrastructure, which includes the purchasing of satellite images, digitizing features (urban and rural EDs, communities, roads, rivers, street centerlines), defining boundaries, splitting EDs and printing. In cases where the maps had been produced or printed, as in the case of Barbados where all the maps were in PDF form, general editing of PDF files such as editing map descriptions and adding starting arrows was underway. Some statistical offices had engaged in a census pre-test such as in Bermuda, where staff were testing the use of a new map booklet concept that contained a map bound to other pages for easier access for the enumerators. In Suriname listing and mapping fieldwork activities had almost been completed in eight of the ten districts of the country. The two districts that remained were in the interior of the country.

All of the countries’ census offices were in the process of producing basemaps. Not surprisingly, the total number of EDs varies widely due to population size and geographic distribution with all countries reportedly having split or in the process of splitting EDs due to an increased number of households since the last census.

Table 1. Geographic area management hierarchy involved in the administration of the census.

Table 1 above provides insight into the varying number of EDs and the level of personnel involved in managing different geographic areas and activities within each country area, supervisor district and enumeration district. The table illustrates the discrepancies between number of personnel and number of EDs. For example, most countries have a significantly high number of enumerators compared to EDs (St. Lucia, Bahamas, Bermuda, Suriname, St. Kitts & Nevis). Other countries such as Guyana and Barbados have more EDs than enumerators. There is also a large difference in the ration of enumerator to supervisors and a very small difference in the