1. PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING CENSUS MAPPING PROGRAMME
United Nations Regional Workshop on the 2020 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses: International Standards and Contemporary Technologies
Lusaka, Zambia, March 2017
Presented by: Fredrick Okwayo
UNFPA Regional Technical Adviser, Population Data Policy

2. Outline Roles of maps in the census Considerations for mapping method
Some advantages in using geospatial technologies (GIS, GPS)
Consideration for delineation of EAs and examples of EAs
Main aspects in a census mapping programme
Main phases of implementation
Examples of planning process
Testing the planned census mapping programme
Challenges in census mapping

3. International standards and recommendations
Main documents for 2020 round of census
UNSD, Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in Support of Census Activities, New York
UNSD, Principles and recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, rev 3, new York (with a section on census mapping GIS and census mapping)

4. Roles of maps in the Census
Ensures coverage and facilitates census planning process (pre-enumeration phase)
Supports data collection and helps supervise census activities (pre-enumeration and enumeration phase)
Makes it easier to present, analyze and disseminate census results (post-enumeration phase)

5. Considerations for mapping methods
Planning must be done early considering the following factors:
available geographic resources
requirements for new technologies
available resources and allocated time frame
staff capacity needed for new approaches
Requirements for developing an ongoing geographic system
The assessment of all these factors will determine the best mix of technology and approaches for each individual cases

6. Approaches for mapping techniques
Traditional mapping techniques used over the years – still applicable in some parts of the countries especially remote areas
Digital mapping techniques motivated by new technologies, can greatly improve census operations
Application of new technologies requires more careful and long term operational and managerial plans based on realistic assessment of cost and human resources required
If there is no internal capacity, consideration for outsourcing should be examined

7. Technological advances
New technological advances include widespread availability of personal computers, handheld devices, global positioning system (GPS), Geographical information system (GIS) software, and low-cost aerial and satellite imagery
these advances makes NSOs to collect more accurate ands timely information, can contribute to the analysis and presentations of the census results

8. Partnerships
Census Office should consider to collaborate with other relevant agencies with comparative advantages in mapping
Census may be a catalyst for the statistical agencies to work together to the benefit of both agencies and the community
Goal is to develop a statistical geo-spatial framework that creates accurate, authoritative, reliable geospatial information

9. Administrative hierarchy
For the purposes of the census a country is often divided into several hierarchical levels including urban and rural areas
Census administrative areas can be any special geographic unit (administrative, political, etc.), but only some can have actual administrative roles
Other units may have statistical roles alone like urban/rural
For example, for the purposes of the census a country may have been divided into seven hierarchical levels in urban areas and six in rural areas:
Administrative areas can be any special geographic unit, but mainly they are units of administration; i.e., some governmental authority has jurisdiction over the territory.
Not all levels must be equally important. For example, many countries divide the territory into major regions, which are often geographically defined, such as North-South-Southwest-East, or Mountain-Plains-Coastal. These regions often do not serve any administrative function, but might still be used to report statistical information.
Generic census administrative hierarchy

10. Illustration of a nested admin. hierarchy
Relationships among all types of administrative and reporting unit boundaries are defined
In some instances, administrative units may not be completely nested
The Figure exposed illustrates the nesting of administrative and census units using a simple example with only four hierarchical levels.
Only some of these hierarchical levels may have actual administrative roles; for example, the province, district and locality levels may have capitals with local government offices that are responsible for those regions. Other units may have statistical roles alone; that is, they are designed for the display of data and not for administering territory.
In some instances, however, administrative units may not be completely nested. Especially when considering both administrative and other statistical reporting units, the census office may need to deal with a very complex system of geographic regions.

11. Criteria for delineation of EAs
Critical Factors of EAs:
Be mutually exclusive and exhaustive;
Have easily identifiable boundaries on the ground;
Be consistent with the administrative hierarchy;
Be of approximately equally sized population;
Be small enough and accessible to be covered by an enumerator;
Be large enough to guarantee data privacy;
Be useful for other types of data collection activities.
The design of EAs should take various criteria into account. Considerations include:
Be mutually exclusive (non-overlapping) and exhaustive (cover the entire country);
Have boundaries that are easily identifiable on the ground;
Be consistent with the administrative hierarchy;
(Be compact without pockets or disjoint sections);
Be of approximately equally sized population;
Be small enough and accessible to be covered by an enumerator within the census period;
(Be small and flexible enough to allow the widest range of tabulations for different statistical reporting units;)
(Address the needs of government departments and other data users;)
Be useful also for other types of censuses and data collection activities; and
Be large enough to guarantee data privacy.

12. Criteria and process for ground delineation of EAs (cont.)
Size of EAs can be defined in 2 ways:
1. Population (most important in terms of censuses)
The chosen population size varies from country to country and is determined based generally on pretest results.
For most practical purposes, the population size of an enumeration area will be in the low to mid hundreds.
2. Surface Area (accessibility)
Enumeration can proceed more quickly in towns and cities than in the countryside so accessibility and time require consideration
For census mapping, population size is the more important criterion, but surface area and accessibility also have to be taken into account to ensure that an enumerator can service an EA within the time allotted.
Under special circumstances, enumeration areas that are larger or smaller than average may have to be defined.

13. Example of an EA map ID building code or address
(to be reported on the census forms
EA boundaries
Boundaries of adjoining EAs
ID codes of the EA
(to be reported on the census forms)

14. Consider Sierra Leone and TLS

15. Example of traditional EAs

16. Some advantages in using geospatial technologies
After the initial large investment, GIS reduces the cost and time required to collect, compile, update, duplicate and distribute geographic information
The integrated use of remote sensing, GIS and GPS may improve accuracy in the boundary delineation of EAs
With GIS, the required space to store maps is drastically reduced
GIS allows to perform spatial queries and disseminate census results by maps
The use of PDAs or pocket PCs may speed up census operations and increase data accuracy

17. Maps support the census planning process
Maximizing coverage: coverage errors refer to the omission or double-counting of persons, households or housing units that may lead to under-counting or over-counting, respectively
Definition of the census geography: hierarchical subdivision of the whole territory into administrative, geographic and statistical areas (Enumeration Areas, groups of EAs under responsibility of supervisors)
Estimating staff, materials, trainings, logistical requirements, etc.
Definition of operational zones (or census management areas) for data collection

18. Maps to support fieldwork operations
Maps showing buildings, streets, addresses, points of interest (landmarks), help enumerators for field orientation and to enumerate census units
ID codes and addresses on the EA maps are reported by enumerators on the census forms
EA maps allow supervisors to monitor that the assigned area is completely covered by enumerators

19. To contribute to the statistical analysis and dissemination of census data
Spatial analysis techniques (queries, measures, etc.)
Thematic mapping
Static and dynamic census atlases

20. Main aspects in census mapping programme
Planning and testing
Institutional arrangements and capacity in the country
Use of geo-spatial technologies
Base maps and map integration
Census geography (determination of coding system)
Consistency with census geography of previous censuses
Geo-coding model and coding scheme
Delineation of EAs
GIS database design
GIS database management
Map updating
Data quality (positional and logical) and confidentiality
Metadata
Dissemination

21. Main phases of implementation
Management and technical coordination at the NSO
Definition of needs on census mapping
Institutional arrangements and/or outsourcing
Definition of the census geography, geocoding approach, coding scheme, use of geospatial technologies, outputs
Drafting a plan and a budget
Realization of a test at EA level
Analysis of the results of the test
Revision of the plan and budget

22. An example of a planning process
Definition of activities and tasks
Definition of a timetable of activities
Definition of responsibilities
Definition of a budget by activity

23. An example of a planning process
Assessment on GIS and census mapping at the NSO
Definition of needs and collection of available cartographic data
Analysis of the collected cartographic data and information
Analysis and definition of spatial levels (Administrative, statistical and geographic units)
Assessing the use of cartography and GIS at the NSO and in the country
Expert interviews and visit of relevant National offices
Draft of a preparatory work plan for census mapping

24. An example of a planning process
Institutional/Organizational issues
Definition of Institutional arrangements with other National Institutions dealing with mapping (e.g. National Mapping Agencies, Private companies, Universities, etc.) contributing to the development of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure
Setting up a technical team for census mapping activities
Definition of the census geography, geo-coding approach, coding scheme, use of geospatial technologies, outputs, etc.
Definition of a strategy to support building capacity in country, outside the country, study tours, etc.

25. An example of a planning process
Realization of a test
Acquisition of cartography (aerial and satellite imagery, paper maps, vector files, etc.) for the pilot area
Importing and integrating administrative records, spatial levels and EA boundaries of previous censuses
Development of a preliminary GIS data model
Preparation of maps and forms of the pilot area
Recruitment of staff and training for fieldwork activities
Field operations and data collection
Data entry
Data analysis and evaluation
Revision of the plan
Preparation of a reference manuals for GIS and census mapping including definitions and a glossary of terms

26. An example of a planning process
GIS database design
Definition of the final GIS data model (layers, coding scheme, geocoding model)
Definition and implementation of the ICT infrastructure
Definition of technical specifications and metadata for the GIS census database

27. An example of a planning process
Digitalization and geocoding activities
Importing and integrating administrative records, spatial levels and EA boundaries of previous censuses
Improving the digitalization (addresses, street names, points of interest, building boundaries, city blocks, and other relevant spatial data)
Geocoding census spatial levels, EAs, addresses and buildings
Fieldwork activities for dwellings listing (or through remote sensing data)
Delineation and digitalization of the census EA boundaries

28. An example of a planning process
Census map updating and printing
Map updating
Implementation of the data management system and updating procedures of the GIS database
Preparation of census EAs and supervisory maps
Map printing, packaging and dispatch to field
Updating maps based on comments from data collection
Finalization of GIS/mapping database

29. An example of a planning process
Dissemination
Definition of the strategy for census spatial data dissemination
Spatial data analysis – main, thematic reports
Preparation of census atlas (static or dynamic)
Interactive maps with census results

30. An example of a planning process
Staff and training
Recruitment of technical staff for fieldwork and office activities
Training on UN GIS standards and recommendations for population censuses
Training on GIS software
Study-tours to other Statistical Offices
Training on census spatial data analysis

31. An example of a planning process
Equipment and consumables
Acquisition of a first set of hardware (small number of computers and a large format printer for the pilot application)
Acquisition of a second set of hardware (Server and clients, printers, data storage units, GPS/GIS and handheld units, etc.)
Acquisition of software based on recommendations od assessments (Commercial: ESRI’s ArcGIS, GPS Utility, EasyGPS, etc.)
Acquisition of office furniture and consumables

32. Testing the planned census mapping programme
Main objective: testing and improving the census mapping programme drafted in the planning process
Specific objectives are to:
test the suitability of census base maps (satellite/aerial imagery) in urban and rural areas
test the proposed geocoding model (matching approach/direct collection)
investigate changes occurred since the last census in the size of EAs, to ensure data comparability, and to improve the appropriate strategy for the demarcation of EAs
test the GIS database model, the coding scheme and the linkage between GIS layers and census data
estimate time and resources to implement the overall census mapping programme

33. Testing the planned census mapping programme (cont.)
Selection of the test areas with the following criteria:
- urban, peri-urban/rural
- commercial/residential
- planned/unplanned/slum areas
- single houses/multi-story buildings

34. Testing the planned census geography programme (cont.)
Preparation of maps for fieldwork, and printing at different scales 1:500-1:1000

35. Testing the planned census geography programme (cont.)
Fieldwork activities
Data analysis and evaluation
Buildings are investigated to count dwellings
The EA is resized to contains approximately the same number of dwellings
Data on buildings is updated
Attribute data is updated in the GIS database

36. Challenges Late allocation of resources for census
High cost of equipment and software for census mapping
Acquisition of base maps or cost of satellite imageries
use of Google maps.
Subscription services to Satellite Images:  such as Global Basemap® by Digital Globe 
Attraction of qualified staff from census office
Definition of urban areas

37. Challenges (cont.)
In cases where administrative and reporting units are not hierarchical, special coding conventions need to be developed
Important to be completely consistent in defining and using the administrative unit identifiers, since they are the link between the GIS boundaries and the tabular census data
Use of different coding system within a country
The census office should therefore maintain a master list of EA and administrative units and their respective codes and commit any changes made to the master list to the GIS and census databases

38. Thanks