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ANNEXURE 2: IDENTIFYING OPTIMUM LOCATIONS

Figure 2: Google Earth map showing buffers around service points and the possible location of a new
service point

Trade area analysis to assess accessibility

Trade area analysis identifies areas of influence or jurisdiction of service points. For example, a
clinic might have an area of influence which covers patients from a surrounding area. Furthermore,
magistrate courts cover magisterial districts and police stations cover police precincts.

You can determine the trade areas of service points by analysing various sets of information.
For example, a database of applications for services provided at service points can be used to
determine the areas where beneficiaries of those services live. Another approach would be to
use a learner enrolment register at schools to identify where learners live. Departments could
also interview beneficiaries accessing service points to identify where they live.

Information about where beneficiaries live can be geo-located in a GIS. You can digitise the
outer perimeter of trade areas in a GIS.
An advantage of the trade analysis method is that it provides a more definitive understanding of
areas that are being served by existing service points, therefore areas that are not being served
can be identified more accurately.

A disadvantage of this method is that the collection of information on where beneficiaries live
and the defining of the trade areas could take some time. It is better to use this approach when
the analysis is being done for a relatively small area with a limited number of service points, for
instance, at local municipal level.

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