Charles Booth attempted to classify areas by poverty, industry of employment and religion.
Chicago School. Burgess’ ‘The City’ identified area types in part by residents. Hoyt. Harris and Ullman followed. Used to understand growth and expansion of cities.
CACI, Experian etc. Commercial organisations designing classifications for marketing purposes.
ONS – “The classification is used by government departments and academics for analysis and comparison, and can also be used by members of the public and school pupils for finding out about where they live and how it compares with the rest of the country”