ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to provide an introduction to some of the historical and theoretical contestations that underpin the social classification of areas. The chapter traces the chronological development of these classifications from the days of Charles Booth (19th-century English social reformer) through developments in the Chicago School of Urban Sociology. This historical background is supplemented with more recent contemporary developments in the field of social area classification. This chapter also includes a deep discussion of a range of key concepts or constructs that are usually associated with the classification of areas. It concludes by examining several criticisms often levied against the social classification of areas.
