A NEW SOCIAL ATLAS OF KYOTO BASED ON CARTOGRAM SYSTEMS FOR SMALL AREAL UNITS

The purpose of this research is to create a 'new ' social atlas of Kyoto based on the 1995 census, using population cartograms. A population cartogram is a map on which areas are drawn in proportion to the number of people in each place. It is an illustration of spatial distribution across groups of people. In this paper, a new social atlas of Kyoto is prepared using the Circular Cartogram Algorithm by Dorling (1991). This atlas is based on different spatial levels; 1-km grids, school districts, and town blocks. The social atlas of each spatial level shows how many people live in each part of Kyoto and in what social conditions. The factor analyses applied to 37 socio-economic variables for each spatial level, yields nine, eight and ten factors with eigenvalues more than 1.0. Four to five main factors showing the basic dimensions of the residential structure of Kyoto are examined. Finally, some population cartograms are created showing spatial structure of society at the different spatial levels, in order to discuss their advantages for mapping society