Geographic Data

The kindtech.geo module provides access to UK geographic boundary data from the ONS ArcGIS Geoportal.

Functions

load_geodata()

Load geographic boundary data as GeoJSON.

from kindtech.geo import load_geodata, GeographyType, CoverageArea, BoundaryType

# Using strings
data = load_geodata(geography_type="LAD", coverage="UK", boundary_type="BGC")

# Using enums
data = load_geodata(
    geography_type=GeographyType.LAD,
    coverage=CoverageArea.UK,
    boundary_type=BoundaryType.BGC,
)

# With filters
manchester = load_geodata(geography_type="LAD", LAD21NM="Manchester")

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
geography_type	str or GeographyType	required	Geography level (e.g., "LAD", "LSOA")
year	str or None	None	Year of the data (e.g., "2021")
month	str, Month, or None	None	Month (e.g., "DEC", Month.DEC)
coverage	str, CoverageArea, or None	None	Coverage area ("UK", "GB", "EW")
boundary_type	str, BoundaryType, or None	"BGC"	Boundary resolution
**filters	keyword args		Field filters (e.g., LAD21NM="Manchester")

Returns

dict — A GeoJSON FeatureCollection. Returns {"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": []} if no matching service is found or the request fails.

---

get_field_info()

Get available fields for filtering a dataset.

from kindtech.geo import get_field_info

fields = get_field_info(geography_type="LAD")
# [{"name": "LAD21CD", "type": "esriFieldTypeString", "alias": "LAD Code"}, ...]

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
geography_type	str or GeographyType	required	Geography level
year	str or None	None	Year
coverage	str, CoverageArea, or None	None	Coverage area
boundary_type	str, BoundaryType, or None	None	Boundary resolution

Returns

list[dict] — Field metadata from ArcGIS (name, type, alias, etc.).

---

get_available_geography_types()

List all supported geography types.

from kindtech.geo import get_available_geography_types

types = get_available_geography_types()
# [{"code": "LAD", "description": "Local Authority Districts"}, ...]

---

get_available_boundary_types()

List all supported boundary resolutions.

---

get_available_coverage_areas()

List all supported coverage areas.

Enums

All enums accept both string codes and enum values. They have .code and .description attributes.

Enum	Values	Example
GeographyType	LAD, LSOA, MSOA, ...	GeographyType.LAD
BoundaryType	BFC, BFE, BGC, BSC	BoundaryType.BGC
CoverageArea	UK, GB, EW	CoverageArea.UK
Month	JAN through DEC	Month.DEC

---

geodata_to_properties()

Extract feature properties from GeoJSON with normalised column names for easy joins with ONS data.

from kindtech import load_geodata, geodata_to_properties
import pandas as pd

geojson = load_geodata(geography_type="LAD")
rows = geodata_to_properties(geojson, "LAD", 2024)
geo_df = pd.DataFrame(rows)
# geo_df has 'geography_code' and 'geography_name' columns
# plus all original ArcGIS properties (LAD24CD, LAD24NM, etc.)

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
geojson	dict	required	GeoJSON FeatureCollection from load_geodata()
geography_type	str or GeographyType	required	Geography level (e.g., "LAD", "LSOA")
year	int or str	required	Year of the data (e.g., 2024)

Returns

list[dict] — One dict per feature, containing:

• geography_code — normalised geography code (e.g. E06000001), derived from the year-stamped ArcGIS field (e.g. LAD24CD)
• geography_name — normalised geography name (e.g. Hartlepool), derived from the year-stamped ArcGIS field (e.g. LAD24NM)
• All original ArcGIS properties preserved as-is

The normalised geography_code column matches the column produced by load_ons(normalize=True), enabling trivial joins:

from kindtech import load_geodata, load_ons, geodata_to_properties
import pandas as pd

geojson = load_geodata(geography_type="LAD")
geo_df = pd.DataFrame(geodata_to_properties(geojson, "LAD", 2024))
ons_df = load_ons("population", geography_type="LAD", time="latest")
merged = geo_df.merge(ons_df, on="geography_code")

How it works

1. The bundled CSV catalog (geo/data/arcgis_services.csv, 615 services across 24 geography types) maps geography type + year + coverage + boundary to an ArcGIS service ID
2. load_geodata() finds the best matching service (most recent year if not specified)
3. Queries the ArcGIS FeatureServer REST API for GeoJSON
4. Returns the raw GeoJSON FeatureCollection
5. geodata_to_properties() extracts feature properties and adds normalised geography_code / geography_name columns using geo_code_field() and geo_name_field() from the internal mapping module

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