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How to identify areas of population or dwelling growth in Placemaker
Use Placemaker to identify areas of population and dwelling growth before selecting a location for a new facility or service.
Use this guide when you want to explore where population or dwelling growth is occurring before selecting a specific site. It helps you scan broadly, identify locations worth investigating further and build a catchment to analyse the population in detail.
Before you begin
- You need an active Placemaker account. See How to log in to Placemaker if you need help accessing the platform.
- Your organisation's subscription determines which forecast datasets are available to you. See Understanding your data access in Placemaker if you're unsure what you can access.
Steps
- Open the map: From the Catchments home screen, click Explore map. The map opens without creating a catchment, allowing you to scan broadly before committing to a location.
- Apply a population forecast layer: Click the Layers icon in the top right to open the layers panel. Select a population forecast theme to display projected growth across the map. Adjust the geography level and forecast year to see how growth is distributed across different areas and time horizons.
- Identify areas of interest: Scan the map to find areas where forecast growth appears strongest. Zoom into areas that stand out to get a clearer view at a finer geography.
- Turn on Residential Development Forecasts: In the Layers panel, enable the Residential Development Forecasts layer. This shows which developments are driving projected population growth and when new dwellings are expected to be delivered. Use this alongside the population forecast to understand whether growth is already under way or expected in coming years. See What are Residential Development Forecasts? for more detail.
- Build a catchment: Once you've identified a location worth investigating, create a catchment to analyse the population in detail. Click + Create catchment from the home screen, search for an address or drop a pin in the area, then select a drive time or radius range. See How to create a catchment in Placemaker for full instructions.
- Review the insights: Once your catchment is saved, Placemaker generates demographic insights for that area. Review population size, forecast growth, age structure and dwelling trends to assess whether the location warrants further investigation. See How to generate insights for a catchment in Placemaker for guidance on filtering and reading the results.
- Repeat to compare locations: Repeat steps 5 and 6 across multiple areas to compare population growth and demographic characteristics. This helps you prioritise locations before committing to a detailed site assessment.
What to expect
After completing these steps you will have one or more saved catchments with population and dwelling forecast data for each area of interest. From here you can export insights to support planning reports or move to a detailed site assessment.
Troubleshooting
The Residential Development Forecasts layer is not visible in my layers panel. This layer is available as part of specific subscription packages. Contact your .id account manager to confirm your organisation's access.
The population forecast data is not showing at the geography level I need. Use the boundary view controls on the map to change the geography level displayed. See How to view population forecast data by geography in Placemaker for steps.