--- title: Using data to inform community engagement – Who do we REALLY need to plan for? | .id blog description: By Keith Davis, Manager Urban Design, City of Unley, South Australia. With the drive for improved efficiencies with finite resources, local governments need to demonstrate a commitment to delivering best value services to communities.... image: https://blog.id.com.au/hubfs/ID-Blog-Media-2024/City-of-Unley.jpg --- [![id-Master-logo-colour-tight-crop](https://blog.id.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/id-Master-logo-colour-tight-crop.png?width=2440&height=881&name=id-Master-logo-colour-tight-crop.png) ![id-Master-logo-colour-tight-crop](https://blog.id.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/id-Master-logo-colour-tight-crop.png?width=2440&height=881&name=id-Master-logo-colour-tight-crop.png)](https://home.id.com.au) - Services - [Services for Local Government](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government) - [Services for Industry](https://home.id.com.au/industry-services) - [Resources](https://home.id.com.au/demographic-resources) - [Case studies](https://home.id.com.au/case-studies) - [Blog](https://blog.id.com.au/) - [About](https://home.id.com.au/about-us) - [About .id (informed decisions)](https://home.id.com.au/about-us) - [Meet our team](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/meet-the-team) - [Careers](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/careers) - [.id scholarship](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/scholarship) - [Contact](https://home.id.com.au/contact-us) [BY INDUSTRY](https://home.id.com.au/#industry-services) - [Local government](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government) - [Financial services](https://home.id.com.au/industries/financial-services) - [Utilities](https://home.id.com.au/industries/utilities) - [Education](https://home.id.com.au/industries/education) - [Retail](https://home.id.com.au/industries/retail) - [Emergency services](https://home.id.com.au/industries/emergency-services) [BY EXPERTISE](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government#streams) - [Consulting](https://home.id.com.au/consulting-services/local-government) - [Demographics](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government/demographics) - [Forecasting](https://home.id.com.au/forecasting/) - [Economics](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government/economics) - [Housing](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government/housing) - [Community views](https://home.id.com.au/community-views) [DIGITAL PLATFORM](https://home.id.com.au/services/local-government#platform) - [profile.id](https://home.id.com.au/community-profile) - [atlas.id](https://home.id.com.au/social-atlas) - [forecast.id](https://home.id.com.au/forecasting/forecast.id) - [economy.id](https://home.id.com.au/economic-profile) - [housing.id](https://home.id.com.au/housing-monitor) - [views.id](https://home.id.com.au/community-views) - [About .id (informed decisions)](https://home.id.com.au/about-us) - [Meet the team](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/meet-the-team) - [Careers](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/careers) - [.id scholarship](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/scholarship) - [Referencing .id as a source](https://home.id.com.au/about-us/referencing-and-sources) #### [BLOG](https://blog.id.com.au) # Using data to inform community engagement - Who do we REALLY need to plan for? - [Population](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/population) - [Demographic analysis](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/demographic-analysis) - [Local area analysis](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/local-area-analysis) - [Population trends](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/population-trends) - [Australian census](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/australian-census) - [New Zealand population and census](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/new-zealand-population-and-census) - [Population forecasting](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/population-forecasting) - [Economic analysis](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/economic-analysis) - [Housing](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/housing) - [Community views](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/community-views) - [.id news](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/-id-news) - [Fun stuff](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/fun-stuff) - [Online tools](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/online-tools) - [Community profiles](https://content.id.com.au/community-profiles-australia) - [Social atlas](https://content.id.com.au/social-atlases-australia) - [Population forecasts](https://content.id.com.au/population-forecast-australia) - [Economic profiles](https://content.id.com.au/economic-profiles-australia) - [Housing monitors](https://housing.id.com.au/) - [Community views](https://views.id.com.au/local_governments) - [How to](https://home.id.com.au/idinsight/topic/how-to) - [Features and updates](https://home.id.com.au/new-data-and-features) ## Using data to inform community engagement - Who do we REALLY need to plan for? [Guest](https://blog.id.com.au/author/guest) 10 May, 2016 *By Keith Davis, Manager Urban Design, City of Unley, South Australia.* With the drive for improved efficiencies with finite resources, local governments need to demonstrate a commitment to delivering best value services to communities. But how best to target these services? Information is key for strategic direction, but even more so, the interpretation of that information. In the tightly held inner-metropolitan City of Unley the recent acquisition of open space was a big story. At just 2 and a bit per cent of the 1,427 hectare total, open space is working overtime in Unley. Although the new park in suburban Fullarton will only add another 2,600m2 to the comparatively paltry City wide total, high expectations were inflating a small local park to bursting point; I mean just how many basketball courts can you actually fit in – is that with or without change rooms!? Transparency and accountability are fundamental tenets to good decision making and a proactive community is central to this process. The high level of political and community interest was a welcome start to commence engagement but despite best intentions how certain can you be that the voices of influence and concern will be the eventual people using the local park? In other words who are the people who make the identity of this place? And more importantly for the investment in the park, who will be the people making the future identity of this future place? If you want to get a sneak into a possible future scenario, the most recent past is a good place to begin. Enter id and their proficiency at neatly dissecting the impenetrable lump of ABS stats into a narrative of the types of people in a place over time. Utilising id’s graphical functions, the plot of the change in age structure described a compelling story of increasing numbers of juniors (age 0-9). This particular cohort of little-tackers was largely absent from the community meetings and certainly not reflected in the political spectrum, but the other big change in the demographics *were* attending the public meetings, the 60’s plus. So whilst a strong cohort of juniors *resided* in Fullarton an equally compelling story of *visiting* juniors emerged! And isn’t that the rewarding promise of your retirement, visits from the grand kids! Presented with these trends, the decision to invest in a junior play space as a key feature and attraction of the park was assured. ![Kathering-Street-Park-534x400](https://blog.id.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/ID-Blog-Media-2024/Kathering-Street-Park-534x400.png?width=534&height=400&name=Kathering-Street-Park-534x400.png) Image: The Katherine Street Park for the grandparents and their grand kids *A big thank you to Keith Davis for sharing this story with us.* ![keith-davis-160x160](https://blog.id.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/ID-Blog-Media-2024/keith-davis-160x160.jpg?width=160&height=160&name=keith-davis-160x160.jpg) Keith Davis, Manager Urban Design City of Unley, South Australia *.id is a team of population experts, who use a unique combination of online tools and consulting to help organisations decide where and when to locate their facilities and services, to meet the needs of changing populations. [Access our free demographic resources here.](https://blog.id.com.au/demographic-resources)* Tags: [Local area analysis](https://blog.id.com.au/topic/local-area-analysis) ##### Guest Previous Story [Latest population figures: Top 50 largest cities...](https://blog.id.com.au/2016/population/population-trends/latest-population-figures-top-50-largest-cities-and-towns-in-australia) Next Story [The places with the least population change](https://blog.id.com.au/2016/population/the-places-with-the-least-population-change) ### Related Posts [Local area analysis](https://blog.id.com.au/topic/local-area-analysis) [![Measuring the impact of environmental risk and climate change perceptions](https://blog.id.com.au/hubfs/bushfire.jpg)](https://blog.id.com.au/measuring-the-impact-of-environmental-risk-on-populations) 29 Nov, 2024 [Measuring the impact of environmental risk and climate change perceptions](https://blog.id.com.au/measuring-the-impact-of-environmental-risk-on-populations) [Australian census](https://blog.id.com.au/topic/australian-census) [![Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash](https://blog.id.com.au/hubfs/annie-spratt-A2bvXVD5qgo-unsplash.jpg)](https://blog.id.com.au/modelling-the-likely-future-for-disability-services-across-australia) 07 Aug, 2024 [Modelling the likely future for disability services across Australia](https://blog.id.com.au/modelling-the-likely-future-for-disability-services-across-australia) [Local area analysis](https://blog.id.com.au/topic/local-area-analysis) [![The Importance of Land Use Planning in Local Government Areas](https://blog.id.com.au/hubfs/Blog%20%20The%20importance%20of%20land%20use%20planning.jpg)](https://blog.id.com.au/the-importance-of-land-use-planning-in-local-government-areas) 21 May, 2024 [The Importance of Land Use Planning in Local Government Areas](https://blog.id.com.au/the-importance-of-land-use-planning-in-local-government-areas) ### Leave a Reply [Next Story The places with the least population change](https://blog.id.com.au/2016/population/the-places-with-the-least-population-change) [Previous Story Latest population figures: Top 50 largest cities and towns in Australia in 2016](https://blog.id.com.au/2016/population/population-trends/latest-population-figures-top-50-largest-cities-and-towns-in-australia) ###### Other Resources [![Visit the demographic resource centre](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/320463/9f91699d-64e2-4b1a-862a-a9b326d7ace7.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/320463/9f91699d-64e2-4b1a-862a-a9b326d7ace7) [![New Call-to-Action](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/320463/c38b4439-45ab-4e1b-b8e2-e2c83dcd4f2d.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/320463/c38b4439-45ab-4e1b-b8e2-e2c83dcd4f2d) [![Living in place - Things to consider when surveying communities](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/320463/edc7cbe4-2147-4109-804c-c409a6cc4ad4.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/320463/edc7cbe4-2147-4109-804c-c409a6cc4ad4) [![New Call-to-Action](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/320463/daf7b77f-d989-4d66-964e-394afb2b297c.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/320463/daf7b77f-d989-4d66-964e-394afb2b297c) [![Living in place - learnings and applications](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/320463/d18ace05-bcc1-4478-a1b4-b01c86d003e9.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/320463/d18ace05-bcc1-4478-a1b4-b01c86d003e9) [![New Call-to-action](https://hubspot-no-cache-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/320463/afec380f-71d7-4e79-b8b0-5b952ebe12e0.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-ap1-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/320463/afec380f-71d7-4e79-b8b0-5b952ebe12e0) ![AoC-Australia-sm-1668562151-412x274](https://blog.id.com.au/hubfs/AoC-Australia-sm-1668562151-412x274.webp) In the spirit of reconciliation .id acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. 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