University York Faculty of Environmental Studies ENVS 6189 3.0 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN PLANNING AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Lab Exercise #2 - Exploring the Housing Careers of Polish and Somali Newcomers in Toronto's Rental Market. (Due on Feb 11th, 2003 15% of Final Grade) Part A (Week 1) Database Development and Theme Visualization Client: Co-Director, Toronto Housing Company (a non-profit housing provider). Problem Statement: You are to describe the differences between the Polish and Somali housing search process in Toronto Ontario during the study survey period of 1987 to 1994. Your research will include a discussion addressing the differences in the "progressive cycle" between the two groups. Background: In the global context of large population movements, the cultural and racial backgrounds of new immigrant groups are increasingly different from the profile of the dominant group that they join (Castles and Miller, 1998). This is especially true for metropolitan areas in more developed countries such as Canada. These new immigrants also compete with different levels of success for housing, employment and educational opportunities (Roseman, Laux, and Thieme, 1996: xviii). The successful incorporation of immigrants into the dominant community, especially as measured by access to the basic needs of society, depends on a variety of factors. These include the material and cognitive resources of individual immigrants and groups of immigrants, barriers established by the dominant society and strategies used by immigrant groups to overcome these barriers. The study extends this research by comparing the settlement experiences of two recent immigrant groups in Toronto, Polish and Somali.1 The most recent wave of Polish immigrants began arriving in the late 1980s as part of the `Solidarity Wave' who left Poland when the economy deteriorated and political tensions increased. They joined an older group of Poles who first arrived in Toronto in the 1950s and 1960s. The Somalis also started arriving in Toronto in the late 1980s, primarily in response to political repression, war and famine in their home country. In contrast to the Poles, the Somalis did not have a long established community with organizations that newcomers could turn to for assistance. According to the 1996 census, 18,915 Polish immigrants and 7,135 Somali refugees arrived in Toronto between 1991 and 1996. The recently arrived Polish group accounts for about onequarter of all Polish immigrants in Toronto while the recent Somali immigrants represent about eighty percent of their group.
1. Excerpts of the Study Background have been reproduced with permission of Dr. Robert A. Murdie, Department of Geography, York University 2000. All copyrights reserved.
Conceptual Framework: Housing career is a term used to describe the way in which households change their housing consumption as they move through the life cycle, or more generally, the life course. The term is used interchangeably in the literature with housing trajectory and housing pathway (e.g., Biterman, 1993; Gober, 1992, pp. 175-80; Payne and Payne, 1974). Housing careers also take place within the broader context of housing system realities and existing societal realities. Managers and gatekeepers, such as private landlords and public housing agencies, often add further distortion to housing system realities by determining who gains access to scarce housing such as private and public sector rental units. In a broader sense, `who gets what where' out of the housing system depends on the social construction of variables such as race, ethnicity, class and gender. The meanings that society gives to these variables can become social barriers to accessing appropriate and affordable housing if one group is viewed more favourably than another. It is widely assumed that individuals [or households] take distinct steps during the life course to improve their housing circumstances. Michelson (1977) emphasizes the notion of a `progressive cycle' whereby households move incrementally towards an ideal dwelling, which in North America is assumed to be a single-family house in the suburbs. Kendig (1990), however, adds the important observation that individuals can move `upwards', `sideways' or `downwards' when pursuing housing trajectories. Empirical studies, especially from Britain and the United States, have determined that recently divorced single parents are particularly vulnerable to `downwards' moves (e.g., Crowe and Hardey, 1991; Gober, 1992, p. 177). The same scenario may apply to recently arrived immigrants and refugees, especially those with limited resources who must face the reality of a tight rental housing market. The Housing Search Process: Modeling the housing search process has a long tradition in the research literature beginning with the classic formulation by Brown and Moore (1970). Brown and Moore (1970) put particular emphasis on `place utility' or relative level of satisfaction with a specific location, including the dwelling and the neighbourhood. When dissatisfaction with the current location reaches a point of unbearable stress the household identifies the desirable qualities of a new location and begins the process of searching for another dwelling. The Brown and Moore model has been criticized for the excessive emphasis given to choice in the housing market, a criticism that is particularly relevant for many new immigrant groups. Also, in subsequent empirical studies relatively little emphasis has been given to the role of ethnicity or race in shaping the housing search process. Recent studies of racial differences in the search for housing in the United States indicate that in the home ownership market blacks are often provided with less information than whites and therefore engage in a much more constrained search (Farley, 1996; Newburger, 1995). Much less is known about the search process by ethnic and racial minorities in the rental market. Individual housing searches involve the identification of housing preferences, selection of information sources, the identification of vacancies, the assessment of vacancies and negotiations 2
with landlords (or sellers). For many immigrant groups, especially those who face major problems of discrimination, the process of looking for and locating a suitable place to live is difficult. Indeed, the identification and assessment of vacancies for some households within these groups may not automatically lead to negotiation with a landlord or seller. The housing search process is divided into three (3) searches periods (first permanent residence, residence before the current one and the current residence). Although not directly considered in this preamble, the importance of proximity to relatives and friends and their extensive use in the search for housing are probably important factors in reinforcing the spatial clustering of both groups. Spatial clustering can also be an important strategy in its own right for accessing suitable housing and overcoming barriers to immigrant integration, although the extent to which ethnic enclaves promote or hamper inclusion in a broader society is an issue that is still being debated in the literature. Deliverable(s): At the end of two (2) weeks, the student will produce at least (2) thematic point maps for housing search periods for both the Polish and Somali study groups. A completed version of Table 1.0 (see page 9) will also be included in your lab report. This table will help you evaluate the housing trajectories, over the three search periods, for both ethnic groups in this study. A short and concise interpretation of the distributions displayed on the maps (i.e., spatial patterns) and the Average House Income table (attributes of search area) will be provided. This interpretation will focus on the difference between the Polish and Somali study groups within the context of the housing search "progressive cycle". New Application Topics Covered: Working with MS-Access; ArcMaps's attribute tables; Geocoding postal codes using the CHASS data centre at the University of Toronto; Data Aggregation; and Relational Joins. The Project Data: The data set for this assignment has various sources. They are: 1) All point files Dr. Robert A. Murdie, York University, Department of Geography, 19871994. 2) Census Tracts Statistics Canada, 1997. 3) Average Income of Household by Census Tracts Statistics Canada, 1996.
*Ensure you list the sources and dates on your final cartographic product (s).
Instructions: This lab, like all future labs, will build upon the skills and techniques you have learned in previous exercises. Detailed instructions will not be repeated from earlier labs. 1) Copying the Project Data into your student Work Folder: Using the Windows Explorer, copy the entire folder called "Lab 2" located in the course folder (i.e.ENVS6189) to your student work directory (i.e., F:/) on the GIS_PC server. Use the File Manager menus or the right-click "copy-paste" method. 3
2) Starting the ArcMap Program: Using the Windows File Manager, go to your home directory and double-click on the file lab2.mdx . ArcMap will start and open an existing document file with a View and data layers in the View Window. Explore the ArcMap document, dataframe(s) properties and layers as they currently exist. 3) Working with the Layer Properties and Symbolization: To present data in a meaningful way, you must make decisions about how data layers are to be symbolized, coloured and presented in the View window. The results of these decisions will be transferred through to the Layout Window later in the assignment when you produce output.
(Figure 1.0 - A screen capture of the Legend Editor dialogue box) Right click on the "First Perm. Residence - Polish" data layer. Click on Properties. The Legend Editor dialogue box will appear (see figure 1.0). Highlight the Symbology tab, Click on Quantities and choose Graduated Symbols. The classification field should be"Freq." for frequency. Notice the default classification scheme uses three (3) cohort groups. Change the default point symbol size range to: 3 to 10. Now click on the Template box in the mid-right side of the dialogue box (a point symbol is displayed). A Symbol selector box will be opened. Click on the drop down tab to change the foreground colour of the point symbols to black. Click on OK to close box and "Apply" to make the changes to this data theme. Symbolize all remaining point features in a way that best facilitates your exploration of the data. 4) Geocoding and Data Entry - Completing the tabular data table for the Somali "Current Permanent Residence" theme.
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Each housing search period has three (3) distinct phases: a) first permanent residence; b) permanent residence before the current one; and, c) the current permanent residence. In the data folder for this lab assignment is a file called post.mdb. This file is a data table with five (5) attribute fields: Somali_cpr, strt_inter, postal, ctname1 and freq. The last three attribute fields are important, as you will require each one to finish the lab. Using Microsoft Access, open this file. Examine the "Postal" table. Your task will be to complete the Ctname (census tract name is actually a number) and the Freq. (number of times the same census tract number appears) fields. To do this you will use the University of Toronto's Online CHASS Data Centre. Open a web browser and go to the following address: http://datacentre2.chass.utoronto.ca/census/96_pc_pccf.html 1. Enter one postal code at a time!
M6K2S9
2. Select the Data Category:
Postal Code Region and province (1996 representation order) Federal electoral district (1996 representation order) Region and province (1987 representation order) Federal electoral district (1987 representation order) Enumeration area (1987 representation order) Latitude Longitude Single link indicator Census division unique identifier Census subdivision code Census subdivision name Census subdivision type Census consolidated subdivision code Census metropolitan area/census agglomeration code Census metropolitan area/census agglomeration Primary type census metropolitan area/census agglomeration code Primary census metropolitan area/census agglomeration type Census tract name Economic region code
3. Select the output format:
Text
4. Submit your request:
Submit Query
The CHASS data centre is one of many online resources that GIS users can utilize to help with database development. For this assignment you will use the Postal Code module to manually submit the postal codes listed in the postal table and generate the appropriate census tract name (i.e., ctname). You will then complete the postal table in the post.mdb file for the remaining survey results. Some of the records have already been done for you. Examine the logic between the postal, ctname1 and the freq. attribute fields. Entering the individual postal code (e.g., M6P3W1), then, select "Census tract name" as the Data Category returned and finally "Submit your Query". Repeat to complete the entire file including the Freq. attribute field.
(Figure 2.0 - A screen capture of the CHASS postal code module web page) Once the data table is completed, save the file. Ensure it resides in your /HOME directory. Close Microsoft Access.
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5) Geocoding tabular data to create a new Layer: Definition: Geocoding is the process of identifying the coordinates of an entity given its address or some other reference to location. For example, a postal code can be matched against a census tract name to determine the general location of a home. You have already converted the postal codes for each household surveyed to a corresponding Census Tract name. We will now create a Geocoded layer that will generate a point file for: "Current Permanent Residence Somali". For more information on this step use ArcMap's Desktop Help/Index/ and enter "geocoding" as the keyword. In the ArcMap window, click on Tools, Geocoding then geocoding addresses. Ensure the geocoding service Postal_Canada is available and loaded. If a corrupt message appears, fix the geocoding service file as prompted. This file is located in your lab 2 folder. Then Click OK. A Dialogue Box similar to the one below will open. Navigate to locate the post.mbd file and highlight it as the Address file and "Postal" as the table. Choose CTNAME as the KeyField. Leave the output options as default and save your output file (shapefile) in your working directory and click OK. Give the file a meaningful name. Once the first attempt is finished examine the results in the diagnostic window. Now try to improve the matching results by selecting the "Match Interactively" in the re-match address menu. Try to get the "No Match" category to zero-0. Try placing 00 as tens and hundreds place holders in front of your unmatched records. Select "Done" when you're finished. (Figure 3.0 The Geocoding dialogue box in ArcMap) A new layer should now appear in the views TOC. Highlight the layer, and right on it. Choose properties and click on General Tab rename it to "Current Permanent Residence - Somali" and click OK to close the window. While it is still the selected Layer, right click on it and "Open Attribute Table". You can see all of the attributes that make up a spatial layer from this table. Notice the "Status" (match or unmatched) field. Minimize the table and return to the Main View. 6
6) Symbolize the Point Features: Using the legend editor, change the remaining Somali feature theme to graduated point symbols using the classification field (freq.). Ensure both study group have consistent symbolization and gray tones that are distinct. Check to ensure your working directory is pointing to your student folder on the GIS_PC server. Then save your ArcMap document file and ensure it resides in your student folder on the GIS_PC server. Review your work, and think about what you have done in your own terms. End - (week 1). Week 2: Data Aggregation and Statistical Interpretation of Attribute Data. Instructions: 7) Aggregating your data and generating simple descriptive statistics. When you aggregate data, you consolidate and summarize information to obtain simple descriptive statistics. For this lab assignment, we will be using the point themes and summarizing Average household Income (AvgInc.lyr) based on the points overlapping location. Your question: What is the average household income by CT where the study groups considered housing during the 3 different housing search periods? To understand the process of aggregation refer to the ArcGIS's /Desktop Help/Help Topics../ module and search under "aggregation" Read the description. We will be merging the attributes of the AvgInc.lyr file and each of the Somali search period point files using the "Shape" field in each theme table. Select the fpr_soml Point file, right click/Join and Relates/Join. Select Join data base on Spatial Location (see caption), choose avginc.shp as the join layer, specify your output location and Click OK.
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(Figure 5.0 The attribute table for Average Household Income by Census Tract 1996. Notice that he "Shape" field is selected for the JOIN function). Relational joins are done using common attribute fields between two tables. In this case, we will use common coordinates of the shape elements in both tables (i.e., polygons and points). Select the "shape" field for the Average Income theme table (the source table). Minimize the table. Using the same method, open the remaining two (2) Somali housing search period point files and join to the Avginc.shp. New layers are created for each containing attributes from both shapfiles. Now highlight the "AvgInc" field heading in the attribute table. Once it is highlighted, right click on it select /Statistics/ from the main menu.
Record the required statistics to complete the appropriate row in Table 1.0 on next page. 8
Table 1.0 - Simple Statistics for Study Group Search Periods. Polish Respondents Search Period First Perm. Residence Perm. Residence before current Current Perm. Residence Somali Respondents Search Period First Perm. Residence Perm. Residence before current Current Perm. Residence Mean Income by Census Tract $24,160.86 $24,296.63 $25,160.47 Mean Income by Census Tract Standard Deviation 6197.82 5562.17 5328.12 Standard Deviation Sample Size(count) 28 28 27 Sample Size(count)
8) Add a Projection: Before creating your cartographic output, change the project for the View to a "Lambert EqualArea". Click on View/DataFrame Properties/Coordinate Sytems. In the small window, Click on Predefined/ Projected Coordinate Systems/Continental/North America/Lambert Equal Area Azimuthal (Canada_ Albers_Equal Area_ Conic) and click OK. Save your project file. Notice the geometric transformation effect to the "shape" of the features in the Data View. 9) Use the Layout Window to Produce hardcopy maps. Submit a report addressing all of the items listed in the problem statement and in the description of the deliverables. Your understanding of the problem statement, the data you worked with, and the interpretation of the results, will define a good portion of your overall mark. The format of your submission should conform to the lab submission document provided. The number and typ...