human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography that studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social i ...

, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are naturally drawn to a location (for example, labour catchment area) or as established by governments or organizations for the provision of services. Governments and

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

organizations often define catchment areas for planning purposes and

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensure ...

such as ensuring universal access to services like fire departments, police departments, ambulance bases and hospitals. In business, a catchment area is used to describe the influence from which a retail location draws its customers. Airport catchment areas can inform efforts to estimate route profitability.

Types of catchment areas

Catchments can be defined relative to a location and based upon a number of factors, including distance, travel time, geographic boundaries or population within the catchment. Catchment areas generally fall under two categories, those that occur organically, i.e., "de facto" catchment area, as people are naturally drawn to a location and those that are established and modified by entities such as local governments or organizations. Catchment area boundaries can be modeled using

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...

s (GIS). There can be large variability in the services provided within different catchments in the same area depending upon how and when those catchments were established. They are usually contiguous but can overlap when they describe competing services.

Defining

Identification of "de facto" catchment areas

GIS technology has allowed for the modeling of catchment areas, and in particular those relating to urban areas. Based on travel time between rural areas and cities of different sizes, the urban–rural catchment areas (URCAs) is a global GIS dataset that allows for comparison across countries, such as the distribution of population along the rural–urban continuum. Functional economic areas (FEAs), also called larger urban zone or functional urban areas, are catchment areas of commuters or commuting zones. When combined with hospital data, catchment areas can define the epidemiological disease burdens or forecast hospital needs amid a disease outbreak.

Establishment of catchment areas for a specific service

Catchment areas may be established for the provision of services. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school. When a facility’s capacity can only service a specific volume, the catchment may be used to limit a population’s ability to access services outside that area. In the case of a school catchment area, children may be unable to enroll in a school outside their catchment to prevent the school's services being exceeded.

Examples

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

s can be built and maintained in locations which minimize the driving distance for the surrounding population to reach them. *A neighborhood or district of a city often has several small convenience shops, each with a catchment area of several streets. Supermarkets, on the other hand, have a much lower density, with catchment areas of several neighborhoods (or several villages in rural areas). This principle, similar to the central place theory, makes catchment areas an important area of study for geographers, economists, and

urban planners An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

. *In order to compensate for income inequalities, distances, variations in secondary educational level, and other similar factors, a nation may structure its higher education catchment areas to ensure a good mixture of students from different backgrounds. *Hong Kong divides its primary schools into School Nets under its

Primary One Admission System Public primary schools in Hong Kong admit students via the Primary One Admission System, administered by the Education Bureau (EDB). The system divides available school places into Discretionary Places and places for central allocation. Schools ar ...

, functioning as catchment areas for allocation of school places. *To inform prospective employers, transport providers, planners and local authorities, data detailing the travel to work patterns of seven towns in the Western Region of Ireland were used to define each towns’ labour catchments.

References

External links

* {{in lang, fr}
http://www.owlapps.net/application-geomarketing: catchment area calculations free webapp

List of Nigerian Universities Catchment Areas
* Global visualization of Urban–Rural Catchment Areas Human geography Economic geography