ABSTRACT
Weak forms of such spatial representations would be, for example, the spatial configuration of a set of dwellings establishing the group of citizens entitled to service from a particular hospital. A strong form of such a spatial representation would be the boundary of a legal jurisdiction. Such units have become known as spatial socio-economic units (SSEUs). The use of SSEUs in developed societies has progressed from statutory and collective usage in governance to ad hoc and private usage in commerce for service delivery and the marketing of products. Yet there have been few attempts to study the formalisation of these entities or to monitor their application, despite the growing influence of practices such as geodemographic analysis employing geographic information systems (GIS). This essay aims to review the work done on the formalisation of SSEUs and to make a case for their potential use in the exploration of social processes (Raper et al., 1992).
